Satay

Satay is a South-East Asian dish which came to Sri Lanak with the Malays. It was later spiced up to suite the Sri Lankan pallet. In South-East Asia satay is meat or fish marinaded in the spices and then grilled over hot coals. The Sri Lankan version is more about cooking it in a pot. But when we were kids my mom used to make satay from beef cubes, cook them in a pot, then skewer them and then grill them over hot coconut shell coals and they were GOOOOOD! They would also last for a few week, if they lasted us ;-)

Ingredients

1Kg chicken pieces (preferably with some bone - could be substituted with beef or lamb/mutton)
1 1/2 Big red onion
2 large lemon grass storks
6 cloves of garlic
about 3/4 inch of fat ginger :-)
1 tsp of cumin seed
1 cm x 2 cm piece of cinnamon

2 tbs of Dark soy sauce
2 tbs of peanut oil (could be substituted with roasted sesame seed oil or olive oil)
1 tsp coriander powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp red chilli powder (how spicy do you want it?)
3/4 - 1 tsp sugar
Slat to taste

Method

1. Chop onions, garlic, ginger and lemon grass, then blend to a coarse paste with cumin seeds and cinnamon.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well.
3. Add to the mixture to the chicken, mix well and marinade for about 1-2 hours
4. Add a little oil to a pot and add the marinaded chicken
5. Cook for about 40 minutes with lid closed in a reduced heat occasionally mixing (let the chicken cook in its own liquid and do not add water)
6. Open lid and simmer till the gravy reduces to a thick paste

Taste best a day later ;-)

Chicken Kottu Roti (The Unofficial Sri Lankan National Dish)

Kottu Roti is quite a modern invention. It was most likely was invented by someone who had a little leftover godamba roti (A very thin bread) and curry. The authentic way of making Kottu is to pulverize the ingredients with two blunt metal cleavers on an iron tray over a hot gas burner. The action and racket it creates may be the origin of the word "Kottu". The racket may also be a way of announcing Kottu Roti to potential customers. Most places go as far as the person who orders can request the song he wants the Kottu maker to play. But generally the taste is the smae if you mix the ingredients in a pan less the racket.

Kottu is a complete meal on its own and is one of the most famous street foods in Sri Lanka. It may have evolved as the poor-man's dish, but has reached a level where it is now served even in 5-star restaurants. The type of Kottu depends on what curry you put in it. If you don't put any curry it is generally a Egg Kottu, and if you don't put any egg, it is a Vegetable Kottu. It takes some time to prepare, but the ultimate product is worth the while.

Chicken Curry

Ingredients
500-600g Chicken (6cm cubes)
2-3 cloves of Garlic, chopped
½ a Red Onion, chopped
½ cm of Ginger, finely chopped
½ tsp Mustard
¼ tsp Fenugreek
4-5 Curry leaves
2 pods of Cardamom, 3 Cloves, 1x2cm piece of Cinnamon
1 tsp Chilli powder (more or less depending on how spicy you want it)
1 tsp Curry powder
½ tsp Tamarind paste (more or less depending on how sour you want it) – if no tamarind you can use a large Tomato chopped
Salt to taste
1-2 tsp of Vegetable oil
1 cup Water

Method

• Put the oil into a pot
• When oil is hot put in mustard seeds and let them start popping
• Put in fenugreek, curry leaves, cardamom, cloves and cinnamon and let it fry.
• Next put in the garlic, ginger and onions
• When onions are opaque, put in curry powder and chilli powder and mix well
• Put in the chicken and mix well until the chicken starts to cook outside
• Dissolve the tamarind paste in the water and add salt to it to balance salt and sourness
• Add the water to the chicken and mix well
• Simmer covered in slow heat for about 30 min, occasionally stirring till gravy (sauce) thickens and chicken in cooked

Godamba Roti

Ingredients
600g of white Wheat Flour
3 tsp Sugar
2 tsp Salt (or to taste)
Water
Vegetable oil

Method

• Mix flour, sugar and salt
• Add water and kneed for about 10-15 mins (The mixture should be very elastic and much wetter than a normal bread dough)
• Create 3cm diameter balls of dough
• Put about ½ cm of oil into a flat dish (a Pirex dish of a height more than 3cm would do)
• Apply oil around the balls or dough and place inside the dish
• Cover with Clingfilm and leave in a warm place for 1-2hrs
• Oil a flat surface and flatten the balls of dough till they are nearly transparent
• Heat a frying pan and place the flattened Roti in it
• Flatten another ball of dough and place it on top of the previous Roti in the pan, then flip them both over so that the second Roti is now underneath (The Roti is cooked when they start to have a few brown patches)
• Repeat this flattening, placing on to and flipping process till you finish all the Roti

Kottu

Ingredients
2 medium Carrots, chopped
½ stalk Leeks, chopped
2 cloves of Garlic, chopped
½ Red Onion, chopped
4 eggs
1 tbs Vegetable oil
2 tbs Soy Sauce
Salt to taste

Chopped Roti (1x3cm)
Curried Chicken torn into small pieces

Method

• Heat a pot that could hold all the ingredients, and when really hot ad the oil
• Add Garlic and Onions
• Next add the Carrots and Leeks (Do not let the vegetables overcook – taste better when crunchy)
• Then add the eggs and mix well
• Next add the Soy sauce and Salt to taste
• Add the Chicken and mix well
• Next add the Roti and mix
• If needed the Gravy (Sauce of the Chicken curry) can be added to this and mixed ELSE it can be added when eating

Miris Malu (Chilli Fish)

"Miris Malu", which would translate directly to "Chilli fish" is a spicy hot fish curry.

Ingredients: Fish (preferably sea fish or red fish), chopped onions, garlic and green chili, goraka (Malabar tamarind), turmeric, chilli powder, pepper, mustard seed, fenugreek seed, curry leaves, rampa, cinnamon, oil and salt.

Method: Cut the fish into chunks of about 1 1/2 - 2 inches and mix with salt and turmeric. Add some oil into a saucepan and when hot add the mustard seeds. When the mustard seeds start popping add onions, garlic, fenugreek seed, cinnamon, curry leaves and rampa. When lightly fried add goraka (be careful when you add, since too much and your curry could get really sour), green chilli, chilli powder, pepper. Add water to the amount you think you need gravy (sauce). Add slat to taste. Add the fish and let it cook well with the saucepan covered.

Note:

• If you only have delicate fish, create the gravy or sauce and when done, just drop the fish in for a few minutes.

Kiri Malu (Milk Fish)

"Kiri Malu" would translate to "milk fish". It would actually mean fish cooked in coconut milk and spices. It is a mild dish compared to "Miris Malu", which would translate directly to "Chili fish", probably no explanations needed.

Ingredients: Fish (preferably sea fish), dilute coconut milk, thick coconut milk, chopped onions, garlic and green chili, goraka (Malabar tamarind), turmeric, chili powder, mustard seed, fenugreek seed, curry leaves, rampa and salt.

Method: Cut the fish into chunks of about 1 1/2 - 2 inches. Pour about 1 1/2 cups of diluted coconut milk into a saucepan and add the onions, garlic, green chili, turmeric, chili powder (just a little), mustard seed, fenugreek seed, curry leaves, rampa, goraka (be careful when you add, since too much and your curry could get really sour) and slat to taste. Add the fish and let it cook well with the saucepan covered. Once the fish is cooked well add about 1/2 a cup of thick coconut milk and cook for a minute or two.

Note:

• We use dilute coconut milk to avoid curdling while cooking for a long time.
  
• Dilute coconut milk can be made by adding water to the thick coconut milk.
• If you are using delicate fish, create the gravy or sauce and when done, just drop the fish in for a few minutes.
  

Black Chicken Curry

Chicken curry can be prepared in many ways. Here is "black chicken curry" (Nop the chicken you are going to curry need not be black). It is spicy and full of aroma. The black (dark brown rather) colour is created because of the roasted curry powder used.

Ingredients: Chicken, chopped onions and garlic, tomato, ginger, tamarind, chili, roasted curry powder, curry leaves, mustard seed, oil and salt.

Method: Cut the chicken into pieces. Add some oil to a saucepan and add mustard seed and curry leaves. When the mustard seeds start to pop, add chili powder and curry powder and let it fry for a few seconds (Keep the exhaust fan On or your windows open). Add the onions, garlic, tomato and ginger. Dissolve the tamarind in about 1/2 a cup of water and add it to the mix (do not add to much tamarind since it could make the curry very sour). Add water to make the amount of gravy you like. Add salt and check if the taste is according to your preference. Next add about 1/2 cup water for the chicken to cook in. Add the chicken to the gravy and allow to cook with the lid covered.

Note:

The chicken can be replaced with beef, mutton or lamb. Fish too can be cooked the same way but then "Goraka" (Malabar Tamarind) is used instead of tamarind.

Nasi Goreng

"Nasi" means rice and "Goreng" means fried in the Malay language. So effectively it is "Rice Fired" or "Fried Rice", but I like to call it "Lazy Rice", since I usually make it when I'm too lazy to make more than one dish. It is much more spicier than the Chinese fried rice and can be enjoyed without any other dishes.

Ingredients: Rice (preferably Basmati or Samba - nop not the Latino version), Chicken/beef/mutton/lamb/cuttlefish/shrimp or some sort of meat (even fish that doesn't breakup when fried would do), Eggs, chopped onions and garlic, chill, cloves, cardamoms, curry leaves, Soy sauce, Oyster or Fish sauce, tomato sauce, oil and salt.

Method: Cook the rice and use the reverse side of the spoon to separate the rice grains (need to do it while the rice is still warm). Chop the meat into cubes of about 1/4 inch. Add a little extra oil to a pan and add the chopped meat and a little salt (more salt can be added later if required since the sauces too contain salt) and let it fry well. Add the onions, garlic, cloves, cardamoms, curry leaves and chili and let it fry till the onions are golden brown. Add soy sauce, fish or oyster sauce and tomato sauce according to preference. Beat two eggs in a bowl. Move the contents of the pan to one end and add the beaten eggs to the other end (do not let it mix with the meat). Constantly mix it to get mashed egg. One the egg is well cooked mix it with the rest of the content in the pan. Add the cooked rice to the mixture, one spoon at a time and mix well. Leave on heat for about 3 minutes till the rice is fried in oil.

Note:

Remove cardamoms and cloves before serving. Best way is to remember how many cardamoms or cloves you added and make sure you find them. Another option is to add clove and cardamom powder.

Rice Porridge

Rice porridge is pretty easy to cook and a good meal when you are not having much of an appetite (even better when you feel lazy to cook). Coconut milk soothes your stomach and the porridge is easy to digest. Also fenugreek seed is very good for you stomach and used in many herbal medicines (including herbal hair oil :-))

Ingredients: Raw rice (rice that gets sticky when over cooked), fenugreek seed, coconut milk and salt

Method: Put the washed rice into a pot and fill it with water (about 2 inches of water above the rice). You do not require a lot of rice since the quantity becomes a lot more that when cooking normal rice. Add some fenugreek seed (not too much since it can get taste bitter). Let the rice over cook, if you need add more water. Finally add the coconut milk and salt to taste. Let it cook for a minute or two.

Notes:

Beef or chicken boiled with some salt, pepper, vinegar and spices can be added to this mix. It is famous among the Muslim community in Sri Lanka to add chopped beef curry to the rice porridge, which is used for breaking fast during the month of Ramadan (Ramazan).

A less thicker rice porridge can be drunk with a piece of Juggery [A sugar made from the sap of the kittul (Fish-tail palm) flower or sap from the pol (coconut) flower].