Milk Toffee

This is a fairly easy but yummy candy to make. Some recipes call for sweetened condensed milk but you can make it just normal milk and sugar.

Ingredients

2/3 cups raw sugar
2/3 cups milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon cocoa powder
1/3 cup chopped cashews

Method

1. Add milk and sugar to a small saucepan and heat and bring to the boil
2. Continue to heat on medium-high until mixture, whilst regularly stirring for about 7 minutes or until mixture begins to thicken.
3. Reduce heat to low-medium and heat until mixture reaches 240C on a candy thermomemeter. (Or until it forms a firm ball a drop of the mixture is placed in cold water).
4. Take of the heat and mix in the butter, vanilla, cocoa, and cashews.
5. Pour onto pan lined with baking paper.
6. Allow to set slightly (about 30 min) and cut into desired shape and then allow to set completely
7. Eat.

Microwave Watalappam/Watalappan (Coconut Custard Pudding)

This is a Sri Lankan dessert which is fairly easy to make. Ideally it should be made using coconut milk hence the name coconut custard but it works well with normal milk

Ingredients (Serves 2)

90 grams palm sugar
20ml water
1 cinnamon stick broken
5 crushed cardamom pods
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs
125ml milk (Ideally coconut milk)
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
Chopped roasted cashews


Method

1. Add palm sugar, water, cinnamon, cardamom and nutmeg to a microwave safe dish or cup
2. Microwave for 90 seconds on medium-high in 30 second bursts. stirring in between to ensure the sugar has melted
3. Beat eggs and milk together
4. Add palm sugar mix to eggs
5. Add vanilla
6. Strain mixture into a microwave safe dish.
7. Microwave on high for about 3-4 minutes until pudding is set completely. 
8. Chill for 2 hours
9. Serve with roasted cashews.

Sri Lankan Roti

This is one of my favourite foods. I eat it on its own but it goes well with meat curries or chick pea curry.

Ingredients (Serves 3)
5 cups plain flour
1 cup shredded coconut
1 onion finely diced
10 curry leaves finely cut
1 large green chilli finely cut
1/4 teaspoon salt
~1 cup water
Oil for frying

Method
1. Mix flour, coconut and salt together.
2. Mix in chilli, curry leaves and onion.
3. Slowly add  water until you are able to form a ball.
4. Knead the ball until you get tired. (A good 10 minutes.)
5. Cover with a damp towel and leave for at least 30 minutes.
6. Separate dough into 6 balls.
7. Flatten balls with your hands or rolling pin into circles about 5mm thick.
8. Preheat frying pan on medium heat and lightly oil it.
9. Fry for about 1 minute one side and 30 seconds the other until they brown.

Notes

• It's important to have chilli, onions, curry leaves cut quite finely so you don't end up biting into big chunks.
• You can freeze extras and microwave them to eat later. 

Chickpeas and red capsicum curry

A spicy curry which goes well with Roti bread.

Ingredients

100g Dried Chickpeas (Or 1 can of chick peas )
1/4 large red capsicum sliced into small strips
1/2 onion
1 green chilli
1 large Cinnamon stick
1 teaspoon Cumin seeds
1 teaspoon Mustard seeds
1 tablespoon Garlic finely diced
Ginger
10 Curry leaves
30mL of evaporated milk
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon roasted curry powder
1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
Oil


Method

1. Soak chickpeas overnight. (This can be skipped but chickpeas will take longer to cook)
2. Boil chickpeas until they are soft to taste and set aside.
3. Take 10 chick peas and mash it with a spoon and set aside.
4. In a cup mix evaporated milk with 1 teaspoon of curry powder and salt.
5. In a saucepan fry cinnamon, cumin, mustard, garlic, ginger and  curry leaves on medium heat.
6. Once garlic starts brown add onions, chilli and mashed chickpeas.
7. Once onions soften, mix in chickpeas and capsicum.
8. Add curry powder milk mixture.
9. Bring to boil.
10. Reduce heat and let it cook for 5 minutes.
11. Turn to high heat and add roasted curry powder and some curry leaves.
12. Mix and take of heat. 

Black Pepper Prawns

This is loosely based on recipe by Peter Kuruvita. Its reasonably spicy.

However, I can't remember what I did. 

Sri Lankan Lamb Curry

This is a family recipe, which uses a fair few spices to create a very fragrant curry.

Lamb Curry

Cooking Time
Preparation 15 min
Marinating 60 min
Cooking 30 min

Ingredients
500g of diced lamb
1 tablespoon Yogurt
Roasted Jaffna Curry Powder
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 garlic cloves crushed
1 sprig of curry leaves
Ground Cumin Seeds
Cumin Seeds
Mustard Seeds
1 cinnamon log
5 cloves
1/2 onion diced
2 garlic cloves sliced
1 table spoon of sliced ginger
1/2 tomato diced
1 large green chilli sliced
2 tablsepoons evaporated milk
Oil

Recipe
1. Mix yoghurt, 1 teaspoon of Jaffna Roasted Curry Powder, grated ginger, crushed garlic, and sliced curry leaves  too make a paste and marinate lamb for 1 hour with paste.
2. Fry cumin seeds, mustard seeds, cinnamon, cloves, garlic, ginger and green chillis on medium low heat in a wok.
3. Once garlic starts browning add onions and turn heat to high.
4. Once onions start to brown and lamb and cook on high until its is changes color on all sides.
5. Lower heat to medium and add tomatoes, 1 teaspoon currypowder, some curry leaves and mix.
6. Once tomatoes soften lower heat to medium-low.
7. Cover wok with lid and cook meat until tender. Add water as required. (Stir regularly and feel free to add a few curry leaves every now and then)
7. Bring heat to high, add 1/2 teaspoon of roasted curry powder or 1/3 teaspoon ground cumin and add evaporated milk.
8. Once curry comes to the boil remove from the heat.
9. Garnish with curry leaves
10. Serve with rice or roti bread.

Notes
1. Roasted Jaffna Curry Powder can be bought in certain spice shops. This a recipe to try make it yourself. Alternatively, you can  use other curry powders but the taste will differ depending on what you use.
2. Vary the spices to create your own personal recipe.

Simple Sambar

Sambar is a simple dah/lentil based stew with lots of vegetables. Add any vegetable you like the more the better. Ideally one should use tuvar dahl, but this takes a long time to boil so red lentils are a tasty and convenient alternative.

Sambar - didn't have any red capsicum at the time

Time
Preparation - 15min
Cooking - 20 min


Ingredients (Serves 4)
Mustard seeds
Cumin Seeds
2 teaspoons of sliced ginger
2 dried red chillis
1 table spoon tamarind
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 Cup red lentils (Washed)
1 green chilli sliced
2 cups of diced pumpkin
2 cups of diced egg plant
1/2 Onion diced
1 Tomato diced
1 Cup beans
1 Carrot diced
2 Cups of broccoli pieces
1/4 Red capsicum diced
1 sliced celery stick
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds
3 cloves of garlic crushed
Milk
salt and pepper to taste

Recipe
1. Mix tamarind in 1 cup of boiling water
2. Fry ginger, mustard seeds, cumin seeds and dried red chilli  in a large saucepan on med heat until cumin seeds brown.
3. Add Tomato and celery and fry for a minute.
4. Add lentils and tamarind water (Filter out tamarind bits using strainer).
5. Add turmeric
6. Bring to boil and then add egg plant, pumpkin and beans.
7. Once pumpkin is soft add broccoli, carrot and capsicum.
8. Once brocolli is cooked bring heat to high.
9. Add ground cumin, coriander and crushed garlic.
10. Bring to boil and add a bit of milk.
11. Take of the heat and add salt/pepper to taste.

Notes
1. Add water as required during the recipe.
2. You can pick and choose what ever vegetables you like. For a quick meal you can use frozen vegetables.

Sambar variation - Frozen veggies, broccoli and capsicum.

Garnished with some curry leaves

Kothu Roti

Chicken Kothu Roti

Kothu Roti is Sri Lankan stir fry of meat curry, veggies and roti bread. It's simple but delicious. You can buy some roti or parotha bread if  your in a hurry. But making roti is fun so if you have spare time then its the way to go!(See this recipe if you want to make it yourself)

Cooking Time
Roti - 40 min (+ 2-3 hours standing time)
Meat Curry - 20 min
Kothu Roti - 30 min


Ingredients (Serves 4)
6 Roti's chopped up roughly (See this recipe)
2-3 Cups Meat Curry (I will put links up to a chicken/lamb curry eventually, or you can skip it for a vegetarian meal)
1 onion diced
1/2 tomato diced
1  carrot julienned or grated
1 cup cabbage roughly cut
1 large green chilli sliced
2 eggs
Curry Leaves
1 tablespoon oil
Chilli powder to taste (This is a great dish to make as spicy as you want)
Mustard seeds
Cumin seeds


Recipe
1. Fry Mustard seeds, cumin seeds, curry leaves and chilli in a wok on low-med heat.
2. Once mustard seeds start popping, turn heat up to medium-high and add onions.  Mix in chilli powder to taste at this stage
3. Once onions soften, add tomatoes and cook until they soften.
4. Add carrot and cabbage and stir fry for 2 min
5. Lower heat to medium and add eggs.
6. When eggs are half cooked, stir in chopped roti.
7. Add meat curry and stir it through.
8. Garnish with some torn up curry leaves.

Notes
1. You can freeze left overs in a takeaway box, and just microwave it for a quick meal.
2. You can serve it with some extra meat curry gravy.