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. 

Pumpkin + Carrot Soup

Great with sour dough!

This is a relatively easy, healthy and tasty recipe. It's great for winter.

Ingredients
Diced quarter pumpkin
1-2 carrots grated
1 celery stalk finely chopped
500mL vegetable or chicken stock
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground coriander
Pepper
Nutmeg
Salt to taste
Coriander leaves (optional to garnish)
Yogurt
Oil

Recipe

1. Microwave pumpkin for 3-4 minutes.
2. Heat large sauce pan on medium heat
3. Add celery, ground cumin and coriander
4. Fry 1-2 minutes until celery softens
5. Add pumpkin, with spices
6. Mix in carrot
7. Add stock
8. Boil until pumpkin is soft
9. Add salt to taste
10. Blend with (stick) blender
11. Serve in bowl and mix in teaspoon yogurt,
12. Add pepper and nutmeg to taste
13. Garnish with a few coriander leaves

Notes

• Hand held stick blenders are very handy. 
• Nutmeg can be quite spicy. 

Carrot and Pumpkin soup with a healthy sprinkling of nutmeg

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. 

Vegetarian Savoury Pancakes

This is something I've always been wanting to try. Its fairly simple and I've loosely based it on a vegan recipe, which I have fortunately/unfortunately deveganified.

Vegetarian Pancakes served with veggies and yoghurt

Ingredients (Serves 2)
Pancake Batter
1 egg
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons Greek style yoghurt
2/3 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste (1/4 teaspoon)

Vegetable mix (use whatever you have/fancy)
1 carrot grated
1 tomato diced
1/2 onion diced
1/4 capsicum sliced
1 large Portabella mushroom diced
1 chilli sliced
Oil for frying


Recipe

1. Whisk eggs, milk and yoghurt together. 
2. Whisk in sifted flour, turmeric and salt.
3. Fry onions and mushrooms together.
4. Mix together all the vegetable.
5. Heat frying pan on medium heat and oil it.
6. Spread vegetables on the pan to the desired shape of the pancakes
7. Pour batter to cover vegetables completely
8. Let it cook until the top is almost cooked and it is firm enough to flip.
9. Flip the pancake and cook for 1 minute
10. Repeat
11. Repeat

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