Mushroom Biryani - Fragrant Basmati rice cooked with Indian Biryani spices & Button Mushrooms

 

When my friends visited here recently we had endless stories to share. Part of our conversation also involved about our new foodie experiments. We were together in Sri Lanka and eventually we all moved into different directions. One girl came from Australia and other from UK. Never in our dreams we thought we would have our re-union here, in the most beautifully landscaped but land locked country.

Ingredients for Mushroom Biryani

Seeni Sambol (Caramalised Onion with Ceylon Spices) & a Brief Note about Popular Sri Lankan food

 Seeni sambol, pol sambol, hoppers, string hoppers, kottu & chinese rolls are some of the popular Ceylon (Sri Lankan) food. Sri Lankan cuisine has many similarities with Kerala cuisine. We use lot of coconut milk, grated coconut and spices which are locally available ingredients. However even within Sri Lanka, there are minor differences among Jaffnese, Sinhalese, Muslims & hill country cuisine.

My origins are from Jaffna, we eat red parboiled rice and make string hoppers and pittu with red rice flour. Also we use tamarind and coconut milk to make tangy hot and sour curries. Sinhalese use lot of wheat flour to make their food and also white rice & red raw rice is popular. Hence you would find bread, different variety of  rotis (flat breads) and   ingredients like goraka (Gambooge), lemon grass being used to flavor curries. In Muslim cuisine you would find dates and influence of Malay cooking in their food. In hill country where tea plantations are, tea pluckers eat lot of rotis. Sri Lankan rotis are made with wheat flour and grated coconut.

Bircher Muesli - Healthiest Breakfast Ever

Bread with butter, marmite and another slice with jam is what I used have for breakfast regularly. Its definitely not the most healthy way to start your day. When we moved here, we often came across this breakfast meal named Bircher Muesli. We were curious try it out, as it was a popular Swiss breakfast sold everywhere from cafes, bakeries, super markets to office canteens.

Bircher is the name of the Swiss physician who introduced this  in 1900s. It was introduced to his patients as a part of therapy which included diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables. (Source Wikipedia) Its a mixture of uncooked rolled oats, fruits, nuts and yoghurt.

I tried it outside and felt it was a filling and delicious breakfast. Most importantly its the most healthiest way to start your day,  with nourishment's from rolled oats, yoghurt, fresh fruits and nuts. It has protein, essential vitamins, minerals and good fat from nuts. Yoghurt has more nutritional benefits compared to milk. At this point I can't think of a better breakfast than this in terms of its health benefits.

Roasted Vegetables Pasta

My relationship with baking is similar to meeting a good old friend after a long break. I have childhood memories of mom's baked goodies. She would bake buns, cookies and cakes. I still remember mom's lemon cake aroma gradually enveloping the whole house. We would just wait till the oven bell rings to grab and eat.

Few years later, I started baking and became an avid baker of eggless cakes. But when we started moving, we never wanted to incur additional expense to buy an oven. However here I got an inbuilt oven in the kitchen. Its only been 3 months since I started baking, but I already feel like I cannot cook without an oven.

Baingan Bharta (Roasted eggplant with Indian spices)

My love affair with this vegetable began more than two decades ago. It was introduced to me as "katharikai Poriyal" i.e. stir fried eggplant. Since then I'm in love with this vegetable and our affair continues with many new experimentations ;)

Markets around the World

As a foodie, I'm always excited to see markets in new countries. Be it a farmers market, a regular day market or even spice market. I'm intrigued by new vegetable or spices and I end up buying basket full of vegetables and fruits every time I visit these markets.

I recently got a chance to visit Mullhouse Market which is in eastern france and an hour away from Basel. In addition to fresh fruits and vegetables from Alsace region there were also Moroccon and Chinese traders. I bought the best oranges, bundles of coriander and mint leaves from a Moroccon trader and some tapioca and papaya from a Chinese trader. I invite you to take a virtual tour of the Mullhouse market.

Guacamole- Avocado Dip

Finally after six long months, I'm happy to have my own space. I have my own utensils and a well stocked cupboard with spices and Sri Lankan ingredients. My kitchen smells so good :)

Today's recipe is a result of me trying to incorporate Omega 3 & 6 i.e. good fat into our diet. As vegetarians this is one of the nutrient we may be lacking. We all know fish is one the main source of good fat, which is good for our brain neurons function. Some vegan sources of good fats are olive oil, walnuts, almonds & avocado.

We used to have avocado (we call it as butter fruit) tree in Kandy, in our backyard. We usually blend it with sugar granules and milk powder, refrigerate and have it as dessert. I was surprised when I initially heard about having avocados for salads and sandwiches.

Learning to make Apple Tarte & Pear Tatin

Even though I have to wait for another few months, before I can cook and start shooting in my own kitchen space. I have been cooking, sharing and learning different types of food here. Something that I've bookmarked to try is 'Tarte'. I learnt to make tarte dough and to make both sweet and savory tarte's. Best part is if you don't have patience (like me) to make dough at home, you can buy tarte dough from store and add your preferred vegetable or fruit to make freshly baked delicious tartes.

Also I have plans to try baking Indian samosa's / Sri Lankan patties with store bought tarte dough. Stay tuned for more wonderful cooking experiments in near future.

Meanwhile I'll share this recipe to make tarte dough, which I learnt from a 'wonderful Swiss lady'. 

Cabbage Stir-Fry

You may have noticed that I have not been actively posting over the past few weeks. This is because we have moved to a new country(in the middle of Europe). I am still adjusting to my new surroundings and tied up with the post-move chores.  As a foodie this means tasting new food and experimenting. Unfortunately I still have not started taking photos in new place, as we are still in a temporary place with limited cooking space. But I'm eagerly waiting to capture and share all my new experiments with you all. God willing we hope to move into a permanent place soon.

This recipe is called varai in Tamil, is a Sri Lankan style stir fry. Similar dish is prepared in Kerala cuisine and is called "Thoran". It simply means stir fried vegetables mixed with shredded coconut, dry red chili and curry leaves. You may use mustard and orid dhal or bengal gram to add color and nutty flavor to this stir fry. (Imagine carrot stir fry, with dark green curry leaves, red chilis and yellow gram. Wow what a healthy treat to your eyes and body!) You can make similar stir-fry with all kinds of vegetables.  Some vegetables that I have used are leeks, grated beet root, grated carrot, square beans, long beans, green beans, green plantain, boiled potatoes, boiled tapioca. So that's why I say you can do this stir fry  with any vegetable of your choice. Also you can do this with any type of greens. One of my favorite greens ares kang kung cooked in this style. I serve it with rice.

Mint Sambol (Spicy Mint Salad with Shredded Coconut)

I wish I could share a seasonal cake or cookie recipe with you. There are seasonal sweets and desserts everywhere and also in food blogging world. Even though I indulge in all of them by buying from outside, I hardly make anything sweet because we are ‘weight watchers’. If I make them at home, it’ll be both of us indulging and it will not reflect well in our scale. So whenever there is craving / tempt we buy small portions. That way our consumption is limited to one piece a day. We satisfy our sweet tooth as well as prevent us from the guilt of over indulgence.

So as usual I’m sticking to a spciy recipe for the season. This time it is mint. Ever since I got to know about this herb, I'm absolutely in love with it. I love mint fragrance, mint tea and mint and lemon infused water and mint in my food. I even started growing them in my balcony. Mint sambol is very similar to pesto or even chutney. Difference is I’ve used shredded coconut to bind the flavors together; hence it is thicker in consistency compared to pesto or chutney.

Lotus Root Stir-fry

First of all apologies for my short period of absence. It had been very challenging and struggling few weeks. Gradually things are coming back to normal phase and I'm getting back to routine. 
  

Lotus Root is not a common vegetable. As it is in the name, this is the root of lotus flower mainly used in Asian cuisine. It is used in soups, stir fries, deep fried, braised, pickled in hot and sour garlic chili sauce and also used in traditional herbal medicine. Click here to see picture of lotus root.

I picked this vegetable due to its nutritional benefits; lotus root is rich in Vitamin C, B group of vitamins and also has healthy amounts of minerals like copper and iron.  You can buy this vegetable from Chinese grocery stores.

It has a crunchy sweet taste; a close comparison could be raw carrot. However compared to carrot it is mild in sweetness and it remains crunchy even after cooking.

My recipe is a fusion between Chinese style and Sri Lankan style, to spice it up I’ve added curry powder and curry leaves for its pungent aroma and I’ve also added vinegar as sour flavor nicely blends with crunchy lotus root.

 

Vegetable Kottu (Flat bread pieces mixed with spicy sauce & vegetables)

Kottu Roti is a popular comfort cum street food in Sri Lanka. When you are strolling around in Sri Lankan streets, you cannot miss the sight, sounds and aroma of kottu. Kottu literally means “chop”. It’s made with flat bread called “Gothamba roti” mixed with meat, spicy gravy, and vegetables.  Kottu is blended together in a heated iron sheet using blunt metal blades. Clashing of metal creates a distinctive sound. This sound and aroma of kottu will invite any passerby to stop and indulge in this mouthwatering meal.

I first learnt to make this at home from my Aunt, who prepares roti and everything at home from scratch. I’m not a good roti maker. I’ve never been successful in my previous attempts and also I'm not a big fan of wheat flour. That’s why you find most of my recipes “Gluten-free”. As a Sri Lankan Tamil from North, I’m used to preparing meals with red rice flour and millet flour instead of wheat flour.  These are low glycemic as well.

So for this meal I bought 'Roti Canai' (Malaysian name for pararatha’s), shredded them into thin strips, mixed it with spicy sauce made with onion, garlic, soy sauce and curry powder and added vegetables. When you are not making paratha’s at home which is a time consuming job, you can assemble this meal in 10-15 minutes.

You can ask for flaky parathas (flat bread) from Indian / Sri Lankan / Pakistani restaurants or “Roti Canai” from Malaysian Restaurants.

Dal Makhani – Black Lentils in Spicy Cream Sauce

Dal Makhani is one of my favorite dish in North Indian Restaurants. I love its nutty taste in tangy cream, flavored with pungent garlic. I never bothered to try it at home. Didn't even know what type of lentils is used to make this dish. Later on only when I checked it with one of my Indian friend, I got to know the type of lentils used to make this awesome dish.

I’m glad I like lentils and legumes, as it’s a good source of low fat protein for vegetarians. Quinoa is the best protein source for vegetarians and vegans. However I’m still not that fond of quinoa, even though I’ve tried them on salads and soups I really didn’t like its taste. Second best protein source is tofu, which is a very versatile product. You can use them in fried rice, noodles, soups, salads and stir fries. Stir fried tofu in spicy chili sauce would be a wonderful dish. You can apply the same method I used to make stir- fried eggplant and cook tofu.

My preferred protein sources are lentils, legumes and dairy instead of tofu or quinoa. But lentils are not a complete source of protein, you always have to combine number of lentils or consume dairy to get complete protein. Black lentils, red lentils and chickpeas are my favorites. Black lentils are also used to make Dosa – Indian Crepes.

Green Chili Chutney (Green chili Pesto made with Indian Ingredients)

I always prefer shopping fresh vegetables on my own, but sometimes I do have to delegate it to my DH. He is ok, I would not rank him bad, compared to some other spouses I know ;) but he would sometimes buy things like 250g of long green chilies. He is one of those people who can eat raw chilies. But you can’t have them on a daily basis right? I only use green chilies to season curries or for salads, but what do you do with so much green chilies in fridge? If you get enough sun light you can also marinate them in yogurt and salt and sun dry, once it’s completely dried you can store them and use as curd chilies.

Luckily he bought less spicy chili, so I made chutney with them. I sauteed green chili, so it becomes much milder in spiciness. Added dry roasted fennel and coriander seeds to infuse aroma and tamarind pulp to balance all flavors with its tangy sour flavor.

Green chili chutney is such a versatile side dish, you can spread it in your bread or wraps to make sandwiches, mix it with pasta, have them with nacho’s, take it as a side for rice, or Indian crepes - dosa or Indian rice cake –Idly.

Zero Chili Curry Powder

However much we master our cooking, Mom’s food is very special, and we often crave for Mom’s food. I don’t know, whether it’s her love or a secret recipe she’s yet to share with me, that makes her food so special.

I attribute reasons to be her love and purity she practices. Let me give you a brief background. My mom is a converted vegetarian. All of us started practicing vegetarianism, when we were introduced to meditation by Brahma Kumaris. She strictly practices ‘Purity’; she only takes food cooked with God’s remembrance and doesn’t take onion and garlic. Hinduism promotes Saatvic food i.e. vegetarian food but avoiding certain type of vegetables. Onion and garlic is believed to be increasing impure feelings.

Whatever she cooks at home she will offer it to God, before serving to family. Hence it could be her love, pure feeling and on top of it, God’s love that make’s mom’s food so special.

I always bring something along with me from home, something that I could cook and bring mom’s food taste into my dishes. Curry powder is a wonderful ingredient to bring back from Mom’s kitchen. Her curry powder is influenced by Sri Lankan Tamil (Northern) origins, but with some modifications. She only consumes very little chili (unlike me), again it is believed to be increasing heat and anger in oneself.

This curry powder has zero chili and has protein from Soya, yellow split peas, orid dhal and toor dhal. It also has rice. Adding these legumes and rice helps to give tanginess to gravies made with this curry powder. Gravy will be much thicker and tastier. So here you go…. secret recipe for my mom’s curry powder.