Mango curry - Amba maluwa

 

Amba maluwa is a delicious, sweet, sour and spicy Sri Lankan mango curry. I had this curry for the first time at a restaurant and I couldn't figure out what "vegetable" it was but the taste was out of this world. It was part of a traditonal Sri Lankan meal that consisted of perfectly cooked red rice, some other vegetable and bean curries and pappadom/appalam. Unlike the other vegetable and bean curries that were completely dependent on the seasonings, the mango was bursting with flavours and with each bite it tasted differently. It has ever since been one of my favourite curries.

Egg Thokku - Muttai Thokku

For someone who loves eggs, I just noticed that I have very few recipes that involve eggs (not including cakes and bakes here). So my mission now is to add some more egg recipes and I am going to begin with this easy and pretty fool-proof egg thokku recipe.

Thokku is a thick and sour curry (it probably derives from the word thokkai which means thick). Thokku is either made from sour vegetables/fruits or tamarind paste (or tomatoes) are added to make it sour. The vegetables are cooked along with spices and without adding any water. You stir-fry the vegetables until the water (from the vegetables) has evaporated. The thokku is lastly layered with a few teaspoons of oil before being sealed. The low water content and the acidity prevents it from being spoilt. And you should always use dry spoon and dry hands when serving or opening thokku. This is an effective way to prepare vegetables and make them last a little longer.

Drumstick curry - Murungai kai curry

At my ancestral home, we had a big murungai tree that would blossom after the monsoon season. I never cared much for ours then - my eyes were always set on the mango trees. It was an old and a most stubborn tree that would only blossom periodically. One day, along with some garden work and for whatever reason, we cut down the twigs and branches of that tree. Even though I had never cared much for it, I was saddened to see the state of that beautiful tree. It was only then that I realized its value. I missed the fragrant white flowers that we would inhale. I missed the shadow that we would take refuge in. And most of all, I missed the sight of these green, thin drumsticks that we would desperately try to fetch by jumping up and down with a long stick.    

Zucchini curry

I know I should include more vegetables in my diet and every once in a while I try to explore potential ways to cook and eat certain vegetables that I otherwise would not touch with the proverbial 10 foot pole. Zucchini, cucumber and squash are vegetables that I never eat, fresh or otherwise. But having seen so many delish looking cucumber/squash/zucchini recipes on other blogs inspired me to give this a try. So while grocery shopping, I picked up a zucchini and made curry out of it. I have already made this curry three times now.

Ingredients:
1 zucchini (250 g)
1 onion
2-3 green chilis
2 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 cups water
2 tbs coconut cream
Lemon juice to taste
Salt to taste
1 spring of curry leaves

Mushroom curry

Ingredients:
200-250 g fresh field mushrooms or button mushrooms
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
10 cashew nuts
A pinch of cumin
1 tsp chili powder (optional for more heat)
1 tbs curry powder
3 cups water
1 spring curry leaves
Salt to taste


Method:

I wash the mushrooms under cold water first. Some say you should not wash mushrooms in water. The common guide is to gently rub them with a paper towel or quickly brush them. I personally think it doesn't feel clean without washing them, so I give them a quick cold shower. You can do as you like. 

Slice the mushrooms. Cut the onion and garlic finely. In a large pan, heat some oil and add the cumin, onion and curry leaves. Fry until golden brown. Add chili powder, turmeric, garlic, and curry powder. Mix well. Then add the mushrooms and enough water to allow them to cook. Add salt. Grind the cashews coarsely and add to the curry. You can add more water later, if needed. Cook for about 30 minutes. Mix and taste. Serve hot with rice or anything of your choice!

Lentil curry

1/2 cup masoor dhal 

1 1/2 cups water
2-3 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/2-1 tsp chili powder
1/4 ground coriander powder
Salt to taste

Tempering:
A pinch of cumin
1/2 onion
2 springs of curry leaves
3 dry red chilis

Lentil curry is a very common side-dish in South Asia and it is known as an easy curry to make, but there are some rules and things you need to know about how to prepare this dish. Firstly, wash and rinse the lentils under cold water till the water becomes clear (the first few times it will appear foamy) and remove any impurities. You need not soak the lentils before cooking.

Bring the water to a boil and then add the lentils. When cooking lentils you need to add 3 times as much water as lentils. If you want a more watery lentil curry, you could add some more water. Another thing is, do not add salt until the lentils have been cooked or at least early on, as the curry will stiffen a little. Add all the other ingredients, except the salt and the ground coriander seeds. Add them last. Take the lentil curry away from the stove. In a separate pan, heat some oil and fry cumin, onion and curry leaves until golden brown. Then add the dry red chilis and fry. Split the red chilis before adding them in the curry. Mix these with the lentil curry and serve warm!

Potato curry (Dry)

2 large potatoes
2 medium onions
2 large green chili
3 tbs oil
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tbs curry powder
3 spring curry leaves
Salt to taste

Peel the potatoes and the cut them into halves (to allow them to boil faster) and boil them. Slice the onions, green chili and the boiled potatoes into small pieces. Heat 3 tbs of oil, temper the cumin. Add the onion and chili and fry until golden brown. Then add the potatoes, spices and the curry leaves and mix well for about 10 minutes at medium heat. Can eaten as a side dish or a filling for patties and samosas.

Sambar

1 onion
2 cloves garlic
1/4 cup masoor dal
1 potato
1 tomato
1 carrot
Green beans
1/2 small eggplant
1/3 drumstick
1 green chili
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 spring curry leaves
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2-1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups water
Salt to taste

Cut all the vegetables, including onion and chili. In a fairly large pan, heat oil, add fennel seeds, onion, green chili, curry leaves and the eggplant and fry until golden brown. Add garlic, carrot and potato and stir for a while. Then add the rest of the vegetables and the dal, followed by water, salt, turmeric and lemon juice. Cook the sambar for about 20-25 minutes, until all the vegetables have cooked and become soft. This is a mild, tasty and nutritious vegetable curry that goes excellent with idli, dosai and rice!

Chickpea curry

Chickpea curry is the first curry that I ever made, which turned out to be quite a hit at home. However, I lost my old recipe and this is a slightly modified version of that.

1 cup chickpeas
1/2 tsp cumin
1 onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 tbs fresh ginger paste
2 green chilies
1-2 potatoes
1 tbs curry powder
1/2 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
4 cups water
Coriander leaves (optional)

Soak 1 1/4 cups of chickpeas for 10-12 hours. Heat some oil in a large non-stick pan, add cumin, onion, green chilies and ginger fry until golden brown. Close the lid and and fry for 5-10 minutes but try to stir every once in a while. Then add the chickpeas and all the water. Add curry powder, lemon juice and salt and let it cook for 45-50 minutes at medium to high heat. The chickpeas have a tendency to get burnt on the bottom when most of the water has evaporated, so stir occasionally towards the end. Check whether the chickpeas have been cooked by eating some. If necessary, add some more water and let them cook some more. Add ground coriander before taking the curry off the stove or garnish with coriander leaves if you like.

Eggplant curry (Kathirikai/Brinjal)

As a child, I hated eggplant curries because they were so tasteless. However, during my stay in Colombo I started to love this curry. The eggplant curries served in the restaurants there had a tangy tamarind taste which made me obsess over them. Since coming back to Sweden, I searched on the Internet on how to best imitate that gravy. I have adapted a recipe from this site. I have prepared this curry many times since then and my parents love it.  

Eggplant curry:

1 large purple eggplant

1/2 tsp cumin

1 onion

3 clove garlic paste
1 tsp ginger

2 green chili

1 tbs curry powder

1 tbs thick tamarind paste (preferably a sweet-tangy one)

2-3 tsp sugar

Salt to taste
1/4 cup water

1 tbs coconut cream (optional)

1 spring curry Leave

Oil for frying

Cut the vegetables in small pieces. If you cut them big, it will take more time to fry so cut them reasonably small. Heat oil and deep-fry the eggplants until brown on both sides. When finished deep-frying, in a separate pan, add oil and temper cumin, then add sliced onion, curry leaves and green chili and fry until golden brown and fragrant. Add the garlic-ginger paste and then the fried eggplants, followed by curry powder and the thick tamarind paste, that has been prepared separately and fry for about 5 minutes. Add water, sugar and salt. Mix well. Add the coconut cream and stir continuously till it looks like a gravy. Serve hot with rice!

Prawn curry

Prawn curry is my favourite and this is how I like it.

Jumbo prawns (250 g or 12 prawns)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 onion
3 garlic cloves
2 green chilis
1 large tomato
1 tbs curry powder
1-2 tsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
2-2 1/2 cups water
1 tbs coconut cream (optional)
1 spring of curry leaves (optional)

Clean the prawns. Heat some oil in a non-stick/steel pan, add turmeric and mix. Add the prawns and fry the prawns on both sides till they become pink. Be careful not to burn the prawns. In a separate pan, heat some oil. Temper cumin, add sliced onion, green chili, garlic, curry leaves and saute until golden brown and fragrant. Add the finely sliced tomatoes and curry powder and fry for about 5 minutes. Now add the prawns and the water, followed by salt and lemon juice. If you use deep-frozen prawns, it may be better to cook the prawns at low heat for some minutes and then increase the heat and cook the curry for about 30 minutes. Because deep-frozen jumbo prawns will take time to soften up. Add coconut cream when most of the water has evaporated. Serve with noodles or rice!

Beetroot curry

This is a very common curry among Sinhalese and is frequently included in rice parcels sold in many eateries and restaurants in Sri Lanka. This is very easy to make and tasty. The sweetness of the beetroot is balanced by the spices and the juliennes make the beetroots cook fast, yet is crunchy to eat.

2 medium sized beetroots
1 onion
1/4 tsp of cumin
1 tsp of chili flakes/chili powder
1/4 tsp turmeric
2 tsp curry powder 
1 sprig curry leaves
1 cinnamon (optional)
Salt to taste
1 1/2-2 cups of water

Cut the beetroots julienne-style. Heat the oil in a pan, and then add cumin and then onions, curry leaves and fry until light brown, add chili powder and fry for one minute. Add the beetroots and fry them for some time and then add water, curry powder, turmeric and salt in this order. Do taste in between and adjust spices accordingly. Cook for about 25 minutes at medium heat. Serve with rice!