Pan Asian: Vegetable Kurma (South India)

With spring upon us and summer right around the corner, I’m inspired  to get outside more, and start hitting the farmers market for fresh produce. It’s also time to start shedding that winter weight and get healthy again, and vegetables are the perfect tonic. Since the south of India is known for its primarily vegetarian diet, and also some incredibly tasty dishes, I looked in Healthy South Indian Cooking by Alamelu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt for inspiration, and pulled this amazing recipe for Vegetable Kurma. It uses carrots, potatoes, cauliflower and peas, but feel free to use whatever vegetables you like. I also substituted cashew nuts for almonds (since I didn’t have any handy), and, of course, upped the heat quotient by adding more green chilis. While the dish is simple to prepare, there are a lot of ingredients involved, but mysteriously enough, no garlic! Though it turned out great, I think next time I will add some garlic as it can only enhance an already delicious dish. Also, salt to taste as I believe the recipe called for not enough salt.

The Recipe

from Healthy South Indian Cooking (Hippocrene Books, 2008)

by Alamelu Vairavan and Patricia Marquardt

Ingredients:

½ cup ground fresh coconut or unsweetened coconut powder

1 green chili pepper

12 raw almonds

1 tablespoon white poppy seeds (optional)

2 teaspoons cumin seeds

1 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 thick slices ginger root (peeled)

1 tablespoon roasted chickpeas

2 tablespoons canola oil

6 to 8 curry leaves

1 dry bay leaf

3 or 4 slivers cinnamon sticks

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped tomato

2 cups peeled and cubed Idaho potato

½ cup peeled and thinly sliced carrots

½ teaspoon turmeric powder

1 teaspoon curry powder

½ cup green peas (fresh or frozen)

1 cup cauliflower florets

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

1.)   In A blender combine coconut powder, green chili, almonds, white poppy seeds, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds, ½ teaspoon fennel seeds, ginger root slices, chickpeas. Add 2 cups hot water and grind the ingredients to a smooth paste.

2.)   Heat oil in a wide-bottom saucepan over medium heat. When oil is hot, but not smoking, add curry leaves, bay leaf, cinnamon sticks, remaining cumin and fennel  seeds. Cover and fry to a golden brown.

3.)   Add onion and ½ cup of the chopped tomato to saucepan and stir-fry for a few minutes until onion is lightly translucent.

4.)   Add potato and carrots to saucepan. Add turmeric powder and stir well.

5.)   Add curry powder and stir-fry for a minute or two.

6.)   Add peas and cauliflower to mixture and stir fry for a couple of minutes.

7.)   Add ground spices from the blender to vegetable mixture in saucepan plus 2 cups of warm water. Mix thoroughly.

8.)   When mixture begins to boil, reduce heat. Add remaining ½ cup chopped tomato, salt and cilantro leaves. Cover and cook for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender. Serve with rice or bread.

Serves 6

 

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Skiz’s Original Spice Blends

I originally made my raw and roasted Sri Lankan curry powder at home and gave it out to friends and family, who were the first to encourage me to actually market my brand. When my book came out, this seemed like a no brainer as most of my recipes called for either a raw or roasted curry powder. Since I’m on a mission to promote Sri Lankan food, one of the last undiscovered cuisines of Asia, far and wide, it only makes sense to flog my curry powders. I truly stand behind my product, and firmly believe that these are the most complex and original spice blends you will find anywhere. My family and I cook with them regularly. Not only do they make for delicious dishes, but they also have myriad health benefits as all the spices used have applications in the ancient Ayurvedic system of medicine. In short, this is the real deal.

I started selling my spices exclusively in an artisanal food site called Foodoro.

http://skizsspice.foodoro.com/products/sri-lankan-curry-powder-set-12-oz

I also sell them locally at two retail outlets:

The Milk & Honey Market in Baltimore

http://milkandhoneybaltimore.com/chicken-curry-kukul-mas/

and Bazaar Spices @ Union Market in DC

http://www.bazaarspices.com/

Now, I’ve just set up another online store on Open Sky, which I hope you will visit and follow me as I need 20 followers to open the store:

https://www.opensky.com/skizs-original-spice-blends

 

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Easy Asian Cooking, Part 1 ~ China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam ~ with Gastronaut Skiz Fernando

• 

  DC/MD/VA! I’m back at the Hill Center in the nation’s capital, once again, promoting something I truly love, which is Asian food. You thought I was all about rice & curry, but I’m venturing out of my comfort zone a little, and exploring some dishes from China, Korea, Vietnam, and Thailand, which I cook on a daily basis. Ever seen my cooking show, “Pan Asian?” Well, these are all dishes that I have made before, and I love to show people how quick and easy it really is to make some very complex and flavorful food that you only thought you could get in a restaurant. So please join me as we take a trip to foreign lands and fantastic flavors without even leaving the kitchen! Here are the details:

  Register Here »

  When: Sat, 05/04/2013 - 11:00am to 1:00pm

  Cost: $75
  Category: Food and Garden
  Location: Lorinda “Annie” Hooks Demo Kitchen

  Skiz Fernando returns to Hill Center to take you on a culinary tour of the Far East without ever leaving the kitchen. In this two-hour, hands-on class, Skiz seeks to demystify Asian ingredients and techniques as he instructs you in the preparation of such simple, delicious and healthy dishes as Steamed Fish with Soy Sauce (Hong Kong), Basil Chicken (Thailand), Summer Rolls (Vietnam), and Spicy Stir Fry Squid (Korea). Afterwards, you’re invited for lunch. Skiz is the author of RICE & CURRY: Sri Lankan Home Cooking, a 2011 New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He hosts his own cooking series on YouTube called Pan Asian, in which he cooks dishes from all over Asia and the world.

  Skiz is a second generation Sri Lankan-American and graduate of Harvard University and the Columbia School of Journalism. In 2009 he was featured on Travel Channel’s No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain where he led the crew to Sri Lanka’s hot spots. Check out his blog Rice & Curry and Pan Asian online cooking series.

  Cookbooks will be available for purchase for $19.95.

  

http://youtu.be/qnIRaUoAHxk

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Adventures In Dining: Ministry Of Crab, Colombo, Sri Lanka

one of the giants at Ministry of Crab

Since ending a brutal 27-year conflict in 2009, Sri Lanka is writing a new chapter in her history, which is seeing the country growing and changing in leaps and bounds. One of the first things I noticed on my latest trip there, after the absence of about a year, was how clean the streets of Colombo have become. Forget about those rotting mounds of garbage that pockmarked the urban landscape–you’re hard-pressed to find even the odd scrap of litter. I’m talking capital C-L-E-A-N. Minister of Defense cum Urban Development Gotabaya Rajapaksa deserves kudos for his beautification campaign, which includes knocking down the walls around all public spaces to create a sense of openness, which is, indeed, very rare these days in most congested Asian capitals. The government is also behind the renovation and restoration of such historic sites as the Colombo Racetrack and the Old Dutch Hospital, both of which have been turned into luxury shopping complexes boasting fine restaurants and bars.  Originally built in 1677, the Old Dutch Hospital, in particular, provides a fitting showpiece for the new Colombo—elegant, exciting, and certainly not cheap. As headquarters for the culinary hotspot known as Ministry of Crab, it is a mandatory stop for all visitors here.

I had heard reports about the Ministry often tempered by complaints about how pricey it is. According to their own website, an XL crab clocking in at about a kilo will run you RS 5250 (which comes to about US $41). Though you may instinctively shudder at the thought of paying that much for a single crab consider the fact that you have never, ever in your life laid eyes on such a monstrous creature unless, of course, you grew up near the lagoons of Negombo or Chilaw, where these crabs are sourced. And never mind the tantalizing sauces they are cooked in—chili garlic being my own personal favorite—which can be mopped up with the old-style kade pan (bread) with which they are served. The crabmeat itself is some of the richest, most succulent animal flesh on land or sea, and even the smallest of its legs is loaded with this white gold. So, if you are the type who appreciates good food and think nothing of, say, plunking down $80 for a couple of ounces of prime Kobe beefsteak, $40 for a 32 ounce crustacean seems like a bona fide bargain. When you also consider that these native lagoon crabs were never before available in Sri Lanka because they were all exported to Singapore, you are, in fact, getting a true taste of The Resplendent Isle.

the open kitchen at Ministry

Veteran restaurateur Darshan Munidasa, along with his partners, star cricketers, Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara, are the men behind the Ministry, but it is Darshan who maintains a daily presence, when he’s not splitting time at his other exceptional establishment, Nihonbashi, without a doubt the finest Japanese restaurant within 1000 miles (Darshan is half Japanese himself). Brimming with new ideas and enthusiasm, this guy is on top of every detail here—from the design of the open kitchen; to the Japanese, carbon-steel woks used to cook the crabs; to the fact that the pol sambol is made to order here on traditional grindstones, and served in a coconut shell with a 5 mm layer of coconut meat left intact. He clearly loves what he’s doing, and he’s set the bar quite high for Sri Lanka’s fine dining establishments. Hopefully others will follow his lead.

the main event — chili garlic crab

claypot prawn curry

Though I ate Sri Lankan clams for the first time, and the biggest freshwater prawns I’ve ever seen in my life, the star of the show was, no doubt, the Sri Lankan lagoon crab, which sent shivers of patriotism down my spine. Ministry also takes a playful approach to five-star dining providing customers with bibs, which you will definitely need as you dig into these crabs with both hands. As a connoisseur of crustaceans and a Cancer myself, I can honestly say that these were the biggest and best crabs I have ever eaten. But don’t take my word for it. Indulge for yourself! And long live Ministry of Crab!

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Home Cookin’ in Kandy

Lunch is served at my Uncle Wilson’s place in Kandy

Despite Sri Lanka’s compact size (roughly about the area of West Virginia), there are definite regional variations in its cuisine. The food from the south is said to be spicier and more fish-based, as is exemplified by one of my favorite dishes from that region, fish ambul thiyal; whereas Tamil cuisine from the northern city of Jaffna  tends towards using a lot of tomato and tamarind as the basis for their spicy curries. Upcountry cooking, on the other hand, focuses largely on the bounty of fresh fruits and vegetables that grow in this mountainous central region of the country; while coastal cooking relies heavily on the use of the ubiquitous coconut.

Located in the central highlands, Kandy was the last Sinhala holdout against British colonial rule. As the seat of Sri Lankan kings and the site of one of Buddhism’s most important shrines, the Dalida Mahligawa (or Temple of The Tooth), which supposedly holds one of Lord Buddha’s teeth, Kandyans are proud of their heritage, and equally as proud of their cuisine, which is largely vegetarian. It’s probably got as much to do with what’s available in the proximity as much as an adherence to Buddhist doctrine, which eschews meat.

Some of the vegetables from my uncle’s garden

At his modest house overlooking the migthy Mahavelli River in Kandy, my Uncle Wilson has always taken great pride in his garden, which is flush with all kinds of produce. Mango, papaw and king coconut trees share space with spiky green jackfruit, pumpkin, and plantains. Greens such as gotu kola and koakka grow in the backyard. Under the ground, he’s got tubers like manioc and sweet potatoes growing. He even used to have a paddy field in his front yard until he gave up the land so that one of his sons could build a house there.

King Coconut growing in Uncle Wilson’s yard

His garden, in fact, is almost a microcosm of these central highlands, well-known as the center of tea production in the country, but a veritable Garden of Eden as well. I took a trip to the central Kandy market to get a better idea of this region and all it has to offer.

Durian

banana blossoms

bitter gourd

wood apple

damsons

sugarcane

guava

watermelon

Meanwhile, back at the house, Uncle Wilson’s cooks Kumari and Saroja were busy preparing lunch, which proved to be a veritable vegetarian feast including such dishes as red rice, white rice, jackfruit curry (kos), boiled manioc (battala), coconut sambol, dry fish curry (karola), banana blossom curry (keselmuwa), young jackfruit curry (polos), and egglant (ela batu). Most of the produce came straight from the garden, and anything that didn’t was from close by. Lunch was symphony of different tastes and textures, and even though I’m no vegetarian, I would have no qualms about eating food like that everyday.

young jackfruit (polos)

ripe jackfruit

dry fish

yams

pol roti

banana blossom curry

eggplant

young jack curry

curd

for dessert–curd with treacle

a righteous spread!

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Off The Eaten Path: Leela’s Chilaw Crab Curry

For all the fuss about restaurants, everyone knows the best meal you can ever eat is at someone’s home—especially if that someone is Leela. If you’ve ever checked out my blog before, or saw the Sri Lanka episode of No Reservations, you’ll be familiar with this diminutive lady, who was my Aunty Dora’s cook for 40-some years. Practically every middle class family in Sri Lanka has a “Leela,” who cooks and cleans, and helps raise the children of the household on her way to becoming an actual member of the family.

Leela whips up a pot of her signature dish

When Leela retired after so many years of faithful service, my aunt and cousin Sam and his children (who are now grown up themselves), took it upon themselves to look after her. This usually involves frequent visits to Leela’s village outside the town of Chilaw, bringing her provisions and money. In keeping with the unwritten rules of Sri Lankan hospitality, Leela and her nieces, who live with her on a small plot of land where they grow everything they need to survive, make lunch.

My favorite dish of Leela’s is her crab curry, which also happens to be a regional specialty in Chilaw, known for its large lagoon crabs.  Though I recreated the recipe in my book, Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking (Hippocrene Books, 2011), there’s nothing like having Leela herself make it, and this is exactly what she did on a recent trip to visit her. Being a good Buddhist Leela will not kill live crabs, so we brought some sea crabs from the fish market in Colombo. Sea crabs are usually sold dead, but you have to eat them immediately, so we packed them on ice and drove up to Chilaw so Leela and her nieces could prepare them in the traditional manner. They also put up a whole spread of other tasty dishes—just like they did when I brought Tony Bourdain here, and he proclaimed it his best meal in Sri Lanka.

Leela with Tony B.

 

cleaning the crabs

Leela cooks with her nieces

Leela with her nieces and grand niece

 

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Off The Eaten Path: Nalapaham Restaurant, Wellawatte, Colombo

Whenever I’m in Colombo, a city I’ve eaten my way around quite often, I’m always eager to go off the eaten path and discover a place that I’ve never dined at before. A special favorite of mine is Jaffna food, the spicy Tamil cuisine of the northern part of the island, and when in search of a new spot, it’s wise to take a well-informed guide like my friend, filmmaker T. Arjuna, who has a nose that knows since he himself hails from Jaffna. We meet at my Aunt’s place in Slave Island on a stiflingly hot day, and after downing a cold beer and making a few phone calls, Arjuna has just the spot in mind in nearby Wellawatte, a predominantly Tamil enclave in Colombo. He’s never eaten at Nalapaham Restaurant located just off the Galle Road on E.S Fernando Mawatha, so we are both in for a surprise.

fried fish

What I’ve learned about the differences between ordinary rice and curry and Jaffna cuisine comes down to subtleties in spicing and flavoring. Jaffna curries tend to use more tamarind and tomato as their base, but there are also just as many “frys” or dry curries without gravy. Seafood and mutton are the main proteins, but plenty of vegetables make it to the table as well. Of course the use of chilies is abundant, which makes this particular regional cuisine among my favorites.

Arriving just short of noon, we are the first customers in Nalapaham, and I’m immediately impressed with the cleanliness of the place. This is clearly not your ordinary “hole-in-the-wall.” A large menu in English dominates an entire wall, and they are just bringing out all of the days dishes onto the steam table.

They’ve got nandu (crab) curry; iral pooriyal (dry fry prawns); kanawa pooriyal (cuttlefish dry fry); varutha koli (dry fry chicken); attuirachi (mutton) curry; jillameen (fish) curry; and fried fish. They also offer a whole host of vegetables including katharika kootu (eggplant tamarind curry); gotu kola salad; pineapple/cucumber/onion salad; dhal, long beans, and wing beans. We order one of everything except the crabs (since I had been ODing on crabs this trip). Served first, the rice, dhal, and vegetables are all-you-can- eat. But pretty soon our table is covered with a colorful, mouth-watering palette of different dishes, and we dig in—using out fingers, or course.

my lunch plate

After filling my plate with a bit of everything—Sri Lankan style—I douse my mound of red rice with a few spoonfuls of the crab gravy, which is one of the spicier things we ordered. I dive right into the curries and pretty soon my lips are pleasantly on fire. This is how Jaffna food is supposed to taste! The dry curries—prawns and chicken—remind me of a spicy stir-fry with sliced capsicums and onions. The mutton curry has a proper gravy, thickened by coconut milk, and the tender eggplant has the tangy taste of tamarind. I eat the fried fish, which has been marinated in spices, bones and all, since it is so crispy good. Everything has a little bite to it–even the gotu kola salad, which is laced with slices of fresh green chilies. Following the meal, we sip a cup of the traditional rasam, which is a digestive made of ginger, garlic, cumin, coriander, black pepper and some other spices I can’t quite identify. But good to last drop! The meal was amazing save for the cuttlefish, which was a little overcooked and rubbery. When I got the bill, however, I couldn’t be mad: 1430 rupees, which comes to about US $11.34 or $3.78 per person since Arjuna’s driver also joined us. For its fast, friendly service; cleanliness; cheap prices, and excellent eats, Nalapaham proved to be a great find, and a definite keeper.

dry fry prawns and chicken
(w/ the pineapple salad in the background)

cuttlefish dry fry with papadum and fried sardines

mutton (goat) curry

fish curry

brinjal (eggplant) curry

Washed down with a cup of spicy rasam

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Rice & Curry at Bazaar Spices @ Union Market DC, April 11th

On Thursday, April 11th at 6:30pm at Bazaar Spices in Union Market, we welcome author and gastronaut Skiz Fernando as he discusses the practical and health benefits of using spices in your cooking as well as demystifying some of these “exotic” ingredients often found in Sri Lankan cuisine.  For your sampling pleasure, he will also offer a demonstration and tasting of his famous chicken curry from his recent cookbook, Rice & Curry: Sri Lankan Home Cooking (Hippocrene Books, 2011),  a New York Times notable cookbook, which put Sri Lankan food on the map. Skiz also creates his Original Sri Lankan Roasted Curry powder, a unique blend of 13 different ingredients, which forms the basis of most Sri Lankan curries. He also produces a cooking show on YouTube called “Pan Asian,” which features simple, healthy, and delicious dishes from all over Asia. Hope you will join us for this exciting and delicious event!

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Pan Asian: Basil Chicken (Gai Pad Krapao) – Thailand

As one of the more popular dishes on any Thai restaurant menu, basil chicken is simple, quick, delicious and healthy–thus a perfect match for Pan Asian. You can make it at home with very little effort and only a few ingredients. The star of the show is, of course, Thai basil,  which is a type of sweet basil with narrow leaves, purple stems, and a purplish-pink flower as well as one of the signature flavors of Thai cuisine. You should be able to find these fresh at any good Asian store.

In some restaurants, I have seen this dish made with ground chicken and sometimes served wrapped in a leaf of lettuce, but I prefer to prepare it as a stir-fry using small chunks of chicken (thigh meat, of course, since it has more flavor and stays moist when cooked). You may even substitute chicken in this recipe for beef, pork, or squid.

The Recipe

2 tablespoons peanut oil

1 lb. (450 g) boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

2 shallots, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 fresh red or green Thai Chilies, pounded in mortar and pestle

2 tablespoons fish sauce

2 teaspoons dark soy sauce

2 teaspoons palm sugar or brown sugar

1 bunch of Thai basil leaves, stems removed

½ teaspoon ground white pepper

1.)   Heat 1 tablespoon oil in wok. Once hot, add chicken and stir-fry over high heat for 5 minutes, until browned all over. Transfer chicken to a colander or sieve to drain.

2.)   Reheat wok and add remaining oil. Add shallots and garlic and stir-fry for 3 minutes, until golden brown.

3.)   Return chicken to wok along with chilies, fish sauce, soy sauce, and sugar. Stir-fry on high heat for about 8 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in basil leaves and white pepper and cook until basil is wilted. Serve immediately over rice.

Makes 4 servings

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Easy Asian Cooking, Part 1 ~ China, Korea, Thailand, Vietnam ~ with Gastronaut Skiz Fernando

• 

   

• When: Sat, 05/04/2013 - 11:00am to 1:00pm

  Cost: $75
  Category: Food and Garden
  Location: Lorinda “Annie” Hooks Demo Kitchen @ The Capitol Hill Center

  Skiz Fernando returns to Hill Center to take you on a culinary tour of the Far East without ever leaving the kitchen. In this two-hour, hands-on class, Skiz seeks to demystify Asian ingredients and techniques as he instructs you in the preparation of such simple, delicious and healthy dishes as Steamed Fish with Soy Sauce (Hong Kong), Basil Chicken (Thailand), Summer Rolls (Vietnam), and Spicy Stir Fry Squid (Korea). Afterwards, you’re invited for lunch. Skiz is the author of RICE & CURRY: Sri Lankan Home Cooking, a 2011 New York Times Notable Book of the Year. He hosts his own cooking series on YouTube called Pan Asian, in which he cooks dishes from all over Asia and the world.

  Skiz is a second generation Sri Lankan-American and graduate of Harvard University and the Columbia School of Journalism. In 2009 he was featured on Travel Channel’s No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain where he led the crew to Sri Lanka’s hot spots. Check out his blog Rice & Curry and Pan Asian online cooking series.

  Cook books will be available for purchase for $19.95.

  Space is limited so please reserve your spot asap!

  Register Here »

  

  

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