Three lentil and potato curry

 I was going through my store cupboard and found all kinds of things that needed to be used up. Among them the split green gram that I had once bought to grind to make mung kawum for Sri Lankan new year. Since I subsequently discovered roasted green gram flour I now don't need to roast and grind my own, but that left me with a 2 kg bag of split green gram! Every now and then I substitute it in my regular lentil curry, but no one really likes it 😞. 

This happened round about the same time as I got into baking sour dough bread. In order to make the bread I bought a large enamelled cast iron pot. It's turned into my favourite pot and as soon as this pandemic is over I'm going to go shopping and find a set of smaller pots. I think we've been eating one pot meals ever since I bought it. I use it for pasta dishes, ramen noodles, steaming dumplings ... it's really versatile. 

So I had my pot and I had my split green gram and I decided to make a one pot curry (duh!). It turned out pretty decent. I've made it twice and the pot has been scrapped clean each time. One more time and I'll be done with my green gram! I might even have to go out and buy some more. Now wouldn't that be ironic.

Preparation time: 1 hour; serves 4 as part of a multi-course meal

Ingredients:

1/4 cup	Split Mung beans
1/4 cup	Channa lentils (yellow dahl)
1 tsp.	Salt
3 tsp.	Curry powder
1/2 tsp.	Chilli powder
1/2 tsp.	Turmeric
1/2 tsp.	Methi seeds (fenugreek seeds)
1	Tomato, diced
1/2 cup	Diced onion
1 tsp.	Garlic paste
1 tsp.	Ginger paste
2 1/2 cup	Water
1/4 cup	Red split lentils (Masoor dahl)
350 g	Diced potato
1/2 cup	Coconut cream (or 5 tbsp. Maggie coconut milk powder made up to 1/2 cup)
	Handful coriander leaves

Method:

When you look at the list of ingredients you are probably going to think the same thing that I did when I made this the second time: That's a lot of spices for so few lentils! I promise you it works, but if you don't like spicy food you can always reduce everything by a little bit. 

Split red lentils (top left), split mung lentils (top right) and channa lentils

Start out by washing your mung lentils and your channa lentils and then put them in a heavy bottomed pan with a fitting lid. Into the pan add salt, curry powder, chilli powder, turmeric, methi seeds, the diced tomato and onion, the garlic and ginger paste and the water. 

• Curry powder - I use Sri Lankan unroasted curry powder. If you can't get Sri Lankan curry powder substitute it with Indian Garam Masala. If all you can get is European style curry powder, which you can recognise by its distinctive yellow colour, you can use this but you should not add any turmeric. Instead substitute the turmeric with curry powder. I have not tried this recipe with either Garam Masala or European curry powder, so I'd love your feedback if you try it. 
• Chilli powder - different brands have different hotness so adjust to your taste. If you want a milder spicy taste use paprika powder instead.
• Tomato - I use a medium sized tomato. Say about 8 cm in diameter. If you don't have fresh tomato use 1/4 cup of tomato puree (non-concentrated). It works fine.
• Garlic and ginger paste - although you could use pre-made pastes I seriously recommend that you make your own paste. I used 2 cloves of garlic and a 2 cm piece of ginger to produce the required amounts of paste. 
  

Give everything a stir, put the lid on and bring to the boil over high heat. You need to boil it for 20 minutes. Make sure that it does not dry out. I made this in a cast iron saucepan with a pretty tight lid so I assume that if you make it in a regular saucepan with a not so tight lid that you might need to add a bit more water. If it looks like it is going to dry out add 1/2 cup of water at a time. Make sure you bring it right back up to boil quickly. In order for you to know that it is not drying out you should check it after 10 minutes and give it a stir. Then check on it every 5 minutes.

While your dahl is cooking wash your masoor, or red split, lentil and set aside. Peel and dice your potatoes. The weight given here is the weight after they were diced. It seems like a lot for the small amount of dahl, but it works. 

After 20 minutes are up add the red lentils to the pot, stir and put the lid back on. If the curry is drying out add 1/2 cup of water. Boil for another 5 minutes. Then add the diced potato, stir and boil for 5 minutes (with the lid on). Finally, add the coconut milk and simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on. 

Finally add a handful of finely chopped coriander leaves and serve.

We like to eat it with bread and butter, but you can eat it with rice and pair it with any other curry. 

We had ours with some freshly baked sourdough 😋

Sri Lankan Dahl. Red Lentils. A Staple.

My husband has been finding this blog very useful. A quick call from me to tell him that I'm stuck in the worst back up ever and am not going to make it in time to make dinner, sets the ball rolling. He checks the app we share to see whats on the menu, opens up this blog and cooks us dinner. Sometimes adding his own ingredients in to the mix.

Because of this I really had to get my act together so that he can cook one of our main staples - red lentils, dahl, parippu. What ever you may call it we can't have Sri Lankan food without it. It's marvellously healthy and terribly popular with the kids. It seems to be one of those universal foods kind of like fries and chips. We've never had a kid who does not like it, neither in the USA nor in Germany!

Serves 4; Preparation time 30 min.

Ingredients

1 cup	Red lentils, Mysore dahl
2 cups	Water (approx.)
1/2	Large red onion
1 sprig	Curry leaves
1/2 tsp.	Dill seeds
1 inch	Rampe (pandan)
1/4 tsp.	Turmeric
1/2 tsp.	Salt
1/2 tsp.	Chili powder
2 tsp.	Sri Lankan curry powder (unroasted)
3 tbsp.	Coconut milk powder
1 tsp.	Sri Lankan roasted curry powder
1 tbsp.	Lemon or lime juice

Method:

First of all I wash the lentils twice or thrice just like one washes rice. From there on there are several different options: temper first, temper in the middle etc. But I've been using a much simpler way for many years, cutting out the tempering and thus the oil!

I add water to cover the lentils (around 2 cups) and then put in all the ingredients except the coconut milk, the roasted curry powder and the lime juice. Then I simply put the lid on, put the cooker on high and let it boil. Putting the lid on is very, very important. It also helps to use a heavy bottomed saucepan.

Once the curry boils, I whip of the lid, give it a stir and put the lid back on again. The heat now is turned down to an amazing very low (2 on my cooker) and I allow the lentils to cook. I also check every now and then to see if there is always enough water in the pot. If there is not enough water the lentils will stick to the bottom of the pan and burn. Very yucky! Once most of the water is absorbed I add in the coconut milk, either from a can or powdered coconut milk powder. If I'm using the powdered sort (3 tablespoons) then I stir it in to the lentils and then add some water. This helps prevent any lumps forming. However, if this is the first time you are making this I suggest dissolving the coconut milk powder in 2 tablespoons of lukewarm water and then adding it. If using canned coconut milk the amount will depend totally on how thick the coconut milk is. The stuff I've been getting here in Germany is so thick that I add 2 heaped tablespoons in and some water (a few tablespoons). You can adjust the amount of water depending on how liquid you want your resulting curry to be. If you don't have coconut milk you can use regular full fat milk.

Then let the whole thing come to the boil and it should be done. If some of the lentils are not yet done, just give it a stir and let it cook for longer on very low (with the lid closed). You may need to add water to the curry to prevent it from burning.

Once everything is cooked remove from the heat add the roasted curry powder and the lime juice (you can use lemon juice instead) and cover until needed. Stir and then serve.

Garnished with coriander leaves and chilli flakes

This curry is totally forgiving. I've made it without onions, without curry leaves or rampe and it's still great. You can add tomatoes to it and/or garlic. If your a fish eater some Maldive fish tastes great too. Another favourite Sri Lankan variation is to add spinach to it (careful though, the spinach adds a lot of water to the curry). I've added coriander leaves to it and my cousin makes it with mustard seeds instead of dill. Everyone has their own variation. The one really important ingredient is the turmeric, without this it looks a bit weird. Having said that, my mother always makes it without turmeric and it tastes fine to me!

And finally, my little one loves it when I sprinkle fried onions on top. Try it out and add your own little twist to it. Tastes great with any kind of rice or with thick chunky bread. Kids love it in a sandwich too.

(Well not quite finally... you can also use any other lentil to make this curry, but from my experience it doesn't taste as good).

Eggplant Curry

After feeling down all day (another job application rejected) I decided it was time to indulge and make a nice rice and curry for dinner. I've also been totally inspired by the Facebook group "SRI LANKAN FOOD LOVERS ACROSS THE WORLD" they post the most delicious pictures of the food they make. I have days when my mouth just waters and I have to go to the kitchen and grab a cookie and a cup of tea. But even that is sad because the cookie's are store bought and the tea is made via a tea bag :(

The recipe I'm going to post here is one that I came up with all alone! I was inspired by my aunt's eggplant curry, which was delicious, and I was trying to replicate it. It took me a long while to realize that, no, I was not going to be able to replicate it, but what I had come up with was pretty okay. In fact its terribly annoying when I make it because however much I make it gets all eaten up. Frying eggplant takes forEVER and then to see it being consumed within one meal is a bit depressing. I wish it would last for at least two meals!

This recipe serves 6 - 8 people when served together with a couple of other curries. How long it takes will depend totally on how you deep fry your eggplant!

So you'll find a detailed description of how to make it and then a link to a pdf with the recipe.

Ingredients:

1 kg	Eggplant (preferably the Asian or Japanese variety)
	Salt
1-2 L	Oil, for deep frying
125 g	Onion, finely sliced
1 sprig	Curry leaves
1/2 tsp	Dill seeds
250 g	Tomato, diced
1/2 tsp	Turmeric
1/2 - 1 tsp	Chili pieces
1/2 tsp	Salt
3 heaped tbsp	Maggie coconut milk powder mixed with 2 tbsp water (or 5 tbsp coconut cream)
2 tbsp	Vinegar
1 tsp	Roasted curry powder

Method:

First cut the eggplant into wedges as shown in the picture. Unfortunately, it's really difficult for me to get proper Sri Lankan eggplants. Mostly all that is available is the Italian variety. It's so much easier to cut the thin Asian eggplants. If each piece has a bit of the skin on it, it stops the vegetable from turning to mush. But one has to make do with what is available, sigh...

Once you've chopped up all the eggplant put it in a colander and liberally sprinkle salt over it. Mix it well so that all the veggie has some salt on it. If you remember, have the time, do this well in advance and let the eggplant sit for about an hour. This will remove all the yucky stuff from it. Now if you are like me and have only just decided that you want to cook eggplant for dinner, don't sweat. Most eggplants don't have the "kahata" that has to be removed and taste fine even if you don't let them sit in salt.

Once they've sat for long enough rinse them and then pat them dry with paper towels. If you don't remove the water they will just take longer to deep fry and the oil will spit. Now heat up your oil to around the temperature you use to make fries. On my deep fryer (which broke recently, aarrgghh!) I used the hottest setting and but since I had to do this in a saucepan I put my stove top onto it's highest setting. I used about a liter of oil and it took forever (I'm guessing about 60 to 90 minutes) for me to get all the eggplant fried to the desired crispiness. It ended up looking like this.

So while my eggplant was doing all it's sitting in salt and it's frying I got the other things ready. (I also cooked a pot of dahl, a potato curry and fried some papadum. My little angel made the rice for me. It took her forever but I didn't care those eggplant took forever too.)

I finely chopped the onion and stuck it in a bowl together with the curry leaves and the dill seeds (since I was going to fry these three things together anyway).

Next I diced my tomatoes. If you don't have nice fresh red ones you can also use canned ones (or if you are in a real pinch ketchup!).

I then took the biggest wok I have and heated up a tablespoon of oil on very high heat. Into that went the onions, curry leaves and dill seeds and I cooked it until the onions were soft. Once they were done in went the diced tomatoes, salt, turmeric and chili pieces. I stirred it all up and left it to cook until it turned into a nice paste. Some times I don't cook it so long, but today I had time because the eggplant took so long to fry without a deep-fryer.

Gosh, now the rest is pretty simple. Add the fried eggplant and stir it up. Get everything coated with the sauce and then add the vinegar. I use white vinegar but you can use which ever you like, the taste will just be a little bit different. Be careful if you are using concentrated vinegar, best to try a little at a time until you get the desired sourness. Stir everything up and then add the coconut milk. The coconut milk has to be really thick. I really like to use the top part of canned coconut milk but I'm not having any luck getting my favourite canned coconut milk. Which is surprisingly a local supermarket brand which has no additional chemicals and is 80% coconut fat. With that I only need about 3 tablespoons of milk. So I'm back to using Maggie piti kala pol kiri (coconut milk powder). I make sure I dissolve it in luke warm water otherwise it gets lumpy.

My, I'm just remembering how it was when that stuff first hit the market in SL. It was a total uproar. The housewives loved it and the husbands hated it. I remember not being able to tell the difference back then. I also remember one of my colleagues, who was my mothers age, telling us all proudly how her husband could not tell the difference although he claimed he could. She just kept the pack hidden from him!! Now I can tell the difference but unfortunately I'm not up for scrapping coconut every time I need a rice and curry fix.

Add the coconut milk into the curry, stir quickly bringing to the boil and then take off the heat. Sprinkle over the roasted curry powder and it's ready to serve. (We always mix in the curry powder because the kids don't like getting lumps of it.)

When this baby cools down all the oil comes to the surface so make sure it's served hot. And please beware this is a very oily curry.