- Whimsical Chef

Sri Lankan style Stir-fried Beans

Last Updated September 28, 2017 Leave a Comment

As a kid, beans were always a meh vegetable for me. Okay to be more accurate, that was the case for most vegetables in my life. Which sane kid loved vegetables anyway, eh?

But leaving home and living away from ammi’s kitchen made me crave all the food that I never appreciated as a kid – beans included! It also helped that my better half is a big fan of beans (apart from beets) and it is also a snap to make. This recipe is inspired by my lovely mother in law who made this for us when she visited us last and it has stuck with me since. I love my beans to be green, lightly flavored and still slightly crunchy.

Here’s the recipe for this quick and easy dish which pairs with almost any Lankan rice and curry meal.

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Shakshuka – North African Poached Eggs

Last Updated September 17, 2017 Leave a Comment

Shakshuka is a North African poached egg dish that makes up a perfect brunch. Eggs are THE perfect breakfast solution – they are easy, quick, good for you and keeps you feeling full and content for the longest time. When eggs are coupled with the tang of the tomatoes and the saltiness of the feta and the heat from the chili, that is my kind of breakfast heaven.

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Cheat’s guide to Spicy Sri Lankan Stuffed Rotis

Last Updated September 17, 2017 Leave a Comment

I love using shortcuts to whip up dishes that I really miss from my childhood days. As rewarding as it is to cook things from scratch, it’s not always easy when you are juggling cooking with work or studies. During my undergrad days whenever I missed home a tad too much and wanted to eat something that reminded me of home, I would whip up these delicious stuffed rotis aka vegetable roti, egg roti & beef rotis.

Traditionally, these rotis are made by mixing flour and water with a bit of salt to taste and rolling into golf sized balls and soaking them in oil for a couple of hours. The rotis are then rolled into thin pancakes over a hot griddle and stuffed with a filling of choice and cooked until the roti is cooked through and blistered to a slightly crisp perfection on the outside.

Though making the roti itself is easy, my few attempts at rolling the extremely elastic-y dough left me flustered. It is definitely not something I will attempt at the end of a long day at work.

The cheat method here is to use store-bought uncooked frozen paratas to replace the roti and stuff them with a filling of choice! If you have been following my older posts, yes, this is the same frozen paratas I used to make the cheat pastries. But this time instead of baking them in an oven, I cook them over a hot griddle or a pan.

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Sri Lankan Spicy Chili Sambal – Katta Sambol

Last Updated September 12, 2017 Leave a Comment

As lovers of all things hot and spicy, every south Asian country has their own version of a chili sambal. In Malay cuisine it may be the slightly sweet and spicy deep red sambal chili served with nasi lemak. In Chinese cuisine the tangy and spicy chili that is served with a Hainan chicken rice. In Thai cuisine the tear inducing dips spiked with plenty of bird’s eye chilies. In Indian cuisine the plethora of spicy chutneys and pickles eaten with almost everything.

And for Sri Lankans it is the simple katta sambol that awakens the taste buds and works as a perfect accompaniment to a myriad of favourites – ranging from pol roti to yams to milk rice to pittu to hoppers to anything else in between.

Making a katta sambol requires the minimum number of ingredients but would require either a grinder, blender or a small mortar and pestle. On days that I feel like putting in a bit of elbow grease, I opt to use the mortar and pestle, but on most days I settle for the convenience of a small electric grinder.

Ingredients:

10 Small red onions or shallots
8-10 Dried red chilies (or a mix of red chili flakes)
1 Sprig of curry leaves
A handful of maldive fish flakes (optional)
Salt and lime to taste
¾ Tsp bit of red chili powder

How to:

Add in the dried red chilies, salt and the curry leaves into a grinder and grind until fine.
Add in the red onions and continue to grind until the onions are well incorporated into the chilies. You may leave it as chunky or as smooth as you wish.
Next, add in the maldive fish flakes and grind for one final time. This can be makes as a completely vegetarian side dish by omitting the maldive fish, but it is indeed a lovely addition of both flavor and texture.
Lastly add in salt & a generous squeeze of lime to taste and a bit of red chili powder to brighten up the hue of the katta sambol.

Notes:

Though curry leaves are not traditionally added into a katta sambol, I love the deep herby flavour it imparts. You may omit if unavailable
You may use 2 x medium red onions (Bombay onions) if you are not able to find small red onions, but red onions definitely taste better for katta sambol
Maldive fish is a smoked, dried and flaked tuna which is produced mostly in the Maldive Islands. It is a very uncommon ingredient which is uniquely and most commonly used in Sri Lankan cuisine. This is almost equivalent to a belachan in Singaporean/ Malaysian cuisine and totally optional – but a lovely addition to many Sri Lankan dishes ranging from sambols to rotis to even curries.
If you are not able to get your hands on maldive fish flakes, you can also add in a few pieces of pan roasted dry sprats for a similar flavor
You can also replace the lime with tomatoes for a milder taste but do be warned this will make the katta sambol a tad runny
Mix in a handful of shredded coconut and a few more ingredients and you are on your way to make a Sri Lankan Pol Sambol too.

Sri Lankan Sardine Salad

Last Updated September 11, 2017 Leave a Comment

If the amount of sardine tins inside my luggage after each Lankan holiday is of any witness, you’ll agree that there’s nothing that tops Lankan tinned sardines aka tin maalu. Packed in brine water, as opposed to oil or tomato sauce as in most other countries, I am pretty sure every Lankan would agree how different and delicious Sri Lankan sardines taste! Sardines are used widely in Sri Lankan cuisine – ranging as a filling for short eats like cutlets, patties, rolls, fish buns, or made into sandwiches or toasts for a quick breakfast, or as a spicy curry perfect to accompany a kiribath or even as a fresh tangy salad like which I am going to share today.

This recipe is perfect for rainy days like today where you don’t want to fuss around too much in the kitchen but still crave something spicy, tangy and flavorful!

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Winged bean salad

Last Updated September 10, 2017 Leave a Comment

Winged bean salad

Though I recall having a winged bean (dambala) vine in our backyard in Sri Lanka, it was never a personal favorite. But like most things, distance made the heart grow fonder when I left my parental home and relocated my roots to Singapore. So when I couldn’t get my hands on gotukola as planned to make a gotukola salad for lunch today, I decided to make a winged bean salad instead. Packed with Vitamins A & C, winged beans when consumed in a salad form retains most of its nutrients – making it healthier as well as fresher and simpler to make.

It is very simple and quickly put together dish that acts as a great rice puller which adds a nice tang and crunch into a meal.

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Sri Lankan Gotukola Salad

Last Updated September 10, 2017 Leave a Comment

Gotukola salad

Gotukola salad is Sri Lanka’s version of a tabbouleh. A fresh, colorful, herby goodness that’s packed with both flavor and nutrients. This medley of finely sliced green herby gotukola leaves was the only green leaf salads that I ate without complaining even as a kid.

A firm favorite to this date, this dish perfectly complements any traditional Sri Lankan rice and curry meal and pleases both the eye and the palate. It adds a splash of green to the plate and a fresh, tangy, savory and ever so slightly bitter taste to the palate.

Known as pennywort in the western world, gotukola is packed with vitamins and nutrients and is predominately used in South Asian cuisine. It is one of the most widely available and a well-loved green herbs in Sri Lankan cuisine and salad form is the most popular way to consume it.

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Sri Lankan Lamprais

Last Updated September 6, 2017 Leave a Comment

A delicious lamprais straight out of the oven. #handheldfoodbysu

Lamprais is probably the most significant and sough after remnant from the Dutch colonization days in Sri Lanka. The term ‘lamprais’ which loosely translates to a packet of lumped rice is an amalgam of very specific side dishes and a delightfully flavourful rice. This is then wrapped in banana leaves and baked in a warm oven for a few minutes until the aroma of the banana leaves infuse into the rice. And let me assure you, there isn’t an aroma that will whet the Lankan appetite as much as that of a lamprais.

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