Pan Asian: Mixed Vegetable Curry (Rasa Kayi) — Karnatka, India

 

I’ve been eating a lot of meat recently, so during my last trip to the local farmers’ market, I decided to go vegetarian for lunch and this is what I came up with. Feel free to use any vegetables that you like or have on hand. For a total vegetarian meal, pair it up with some rice and dhal (lentils) as I did. You could also just as easily enjoy this dish with some naan bread. Trader Joe’s sells a particularly good garlic naan in the freezer section, which I use a lot. Just pop it in the toaster oven and slather it with a little butter or ghee and you’re good to go. With such tasty vegetarian dishes as this, I guarantee that even the most committed carnivore will not miss their meat for one meal.

 

The Recipe

4 oz. (100 g) carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

4 oz. (100 g) potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

4 oz. (100 g) green beans, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces

3 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 onions, sliced

1 sprig curry leaves (optional)

1 green chili, slit lengthwise

1 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. coriander powder

1/2 tsp. turmeric

salt to taste

4 oz. (100 g) cauliflower, separated into florets

1/2 cup coconut milk

spice paste:

4 garlic cloves, peeled

1-inch piece of ginger, finely chopped

2 green chillies, finely chopped

1/2 tsp. fennel seeds

4 oz. (100 g) tomatoes, diced

1.)   Grind all ingredients for the spice paste in a blender, and set aside.

2.)   Heat oil in a large pan. Add onions, green chili, and curry leaves, and cook until onions are soft. Add the carrots, chili powder, coriander, turmeric and salt. Mix well. Lower the heat and add potatoes. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.

3.)   Add the cauliflower and green beans together with the spice paste and mix well. Cook covered another 10-15 minutes.

4.)   Remove pan from heat and slowly add the coconut milk, stirring to blend well. Serve hot.

serves 2-4

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The Travel/Adventure Show: Sri Lankan Cooking Demonstration

I had the opportunity to attend the Travel Adventure show in Washington DC last weekend per request of the Sri Lankan Embassy in DC, whose cook, Tuan Buran, was giving a cooking demonstration. Since Buran does not speak English, I was charged with the task of giving a running commentary and interacting with the MC of the event Mark Decosta. Buran made a simple “snack” of hoppers and lunu miris, and since this was only a demonstration, not a tasting event, we got to eat all of the “samples.”

 

 

Hoppers (Appa)

 

These sourdough pancakes, originally from South India, are popular for both breakfast and dinner in Sri Lanka, and can be bought at ubiquitous roadside stands. They are made in a small curved pan resembling a tiny wok called a thatchi. As the batter is swirled around the sides and cooks it becomes  crunchy on the ends while remaining soft in the middle. Accompaniments include curries with gravy and Lunu miris.

 

1 lb. (500 g) wheat or rice flour

salt to taste

1/8 tsp. sugar

1 tsp. yeast

2 oz. (250 ml) water

20 oz. () coconut milk (more milk required if using rice flour)

1/4 tsp. bicarbonate of soda

3 tbsp. oil

 

 

1.)            Sieve flour into bowl. Add salt, sugar, yeast (dissolved in water), and mix well to form a stiff dough.

2.)            Set aside to rise for 2-3 hours. Then add the coconut milk and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda and set aside for another hour. Mix well.

3.)            Oil a hopper pan (or similar spherical pan) and heat over medium flame. Pour a spoonful of batter and rotate pan so whole surface is covered. Cook until hopper is done.

4.)            Oil pan after each hopper.

 

Serve  hot

 

Variation: egg hopper– After pouring batter into pan, break an egg in the center and cover and cook until done.

 

Makes 10-12 Hoppers

 

 

Onion Chili Sambol (Lunu Miris)

 

This fiery mix of onion, chilies and salty, chewy bits of Maldive fish is the perfect complement to hoppers or milk rice.

 

1 onion, chopped

4 tbsp. dry red chilies

1 tbsp. Maldive fish (or dried shrimp)

juice of lime

salt to taste

 

1.) Grind all ingredients together in a food processor or blender to make a thick red paste.

 

 

 

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Pan Asian: Lao Curried Chicken

MMMmmm.....Lao curried chicken

Bordering Thailand, Laos has a very similar cuisine, full-on with rich, coconut-milk based sauces, and exotic flavors like galangal, Kaffir lime, and shrimp paste. So it was great to stumble upon this recipe for a Lao chicken curry because the curry paste it uses was almost identical to Thai curry paste. Although I’m not normally known to cook the “semi-homemade” way with premade sauces and such, there is a brand of Thai curry pastes to which I’m partial, made by a Thai company called Maesri. Turns out, according to my man at Asia Food in Baltimore, a leading restaurant supplier (and the place where I buy most of my Asian products), that most of the Thai restaurants in town also use Maesri sauces in their dishes. This brand contains no artificial ingredients–especially no MSG, which seems to be a curse on store-bought Asian food products–and this particular recipe has the added benefit of using no oil, making it extra healthy.

Lao curried chicken is essentially a one-pot dish with meat , vegetables, and starch (and loads of flavor!), which you can enjoy over rice. In addition to the short ingredient list and ease of preparation, the amazing flavor will show you that you too can make restaurant quality food in your very own kitchen. I basically halved the recipe for my purposes on Pan Asian, but feel free to make a big batch of this the next time you have guests to impress.

 

The Recipe

4 cups coconut milk

1/4 cup yellow curry paste

2 large onions, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 3-4 pound chicken, cleaned and cut

salt to taste

5-6 fresh red or green chilies, sliced diagonally into 2-inch segments

2 stalks lemongrass, sliced diagonally into 2-inch segments

3 medium potatoes, cubed

1 pound long or green beans, sliced diagonally into 2-inch segments

3 tbsp. fish sauce

1.)   Heat 1 cup of coconut milk in a large saucepan over medium heat until it just begins to boil. Stir in the curry paste, reduce heat to medium low and cook until mixture is fragrant (about 5 minutes). Stir in onions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes more.

2.)   Meanwhile, remove breast meat from bones and cut into cubes. Split wings, thighs and drumsticks in half. Add to curry mixture and stir to mix. Cook for 10 minutes.

3.)   Stir in salt and remaining 3 cups coconut milk, and reduce heat to low. Stir in chilies, lemon grass, and cover and cook for 10 minutes more. Stir in potatoes aand beans and cook, uncovered, until soft (about 10 minutes). Just before serving, stir in the fish sauce.

Makes 4-6 servings

Yellow curry paste:

3 dried red chilies, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes

10 shallots, chopped

1 tbsp. chopped garlic

1 tbsp. coriander seeds

2 tsp. curry powder

1 tsp. cumin seeds

1 tsp. fresh ginger, chopped

3/4 cup coconut milk

2 stalks lemon grass, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. Thai or Malaysian shrimp paste

1.)   Roast separately the chilies, shallots, garlic, coriander, curry powder, cumin, and ginger in a wok, stirring constantly until fragrant.

2.)   Transfer to a blender, add just enough coconut milk to process and blend until smooth. Add the lemon grass, salt and remaining coconut milk, and process again. Add the shrimp paste and process to incorporate. This mixture may be stored in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days or in the freezer for up to one month.

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