Melting in a whole stick of butter to the jaggery milk toffee (almost the last step).
A Whole Stick of Butter
Cashews for the Toffee
Adding cashews to the jaggery milk toffee.
Jaggery in Place of Brown Sugar
30 seconds of milk toffee bubbling. This is an unusual batch — I didn’t have enough white sugar, so I made up the difference with jaggery (which is similar to brown sugar); I wasn’t sure if it would turn out. It definitely looked somewhat different while cooking.
Not Really a Filter Girl
Yesterday morning’s curry powder grinding. I couldn’t seem to get my iPhone to capture the colors correctly — it was all coming out much more cool and washed out than my eyes were seeing them. So I ended up trying the ‘warm vivid’ filter — and it’s a little TOO warm, but closer to reality than the unfiltered version.
I’m not really a filter girl, but this was interesting.
Cooking Again
Thirty seconds of toasting cumin seed.
Adding the toasted methi seeds / fenugreek to the fennel, cumin seed, coriander.
Curry leaves, starting to toast. That scent — there’s nothing like it.
Curry leaves, partly toasted.
All the toasted spices are in a big tray now, cooling off — if you try to grind them when they’re still hot, they generate a lot of steam and clog up the grinder and it’s a nuisance. Better to let them cool first — I’ll add cinnamon stick, cloves, and caradmom seeds tomorrow, then grind it all together.
Bath and bed for me now. Sleep well, munchkins.
(Or, y’know, good morning! Or good afternoon! Depending on where you’re reading this from…)
A Tower of Sweets
I scooted myself down to the basement this morning, and Anand carried many things upstairs for me. I’m amused that he decided to build a tower of the sweet boxes. 
Kevin on Marshmallow Duty
Kevin made this batch of marshmallows (passion fruit, vanilla, and rose) entirely for me, so I’d have some ready for tomorrow’s Valentine’s market. I just sat on the couch and answered the occasional question.
Kevin Can Cook
It’s so nice that Kevin can cook — I asked him yesterday if he’d make a Sri Lankan beef curry for me, and he did. He doesn’t even need a recipe at this point.
It’s not exactly like mine or my mother’s, but close enough. Finished off the green beans from a few days ago, fresh rice, delicious and comforting.
I was thinking I’d put the 30 days of Vegan Serendib on hold until my foot was better, since standing and cooking isn’t really so feasible right now, but maybe I’ll just ask Kevin to make the dishes for me. Cabbage mallung is supposed to be next in queue…
*****
Beef and Potato Curry / Mas Kulunga Kari
(1 hour, serves 6)
This was my favorite dish growing up, the one my mother always makes for me when I come home, and the first Sri Lankan dish I learned to cook, when I called home desperate from the dorms, begging her to teach me how to make it over the phone. It’s also the first Sri Lankan dish my husband, Kevin, learned to cook — I came home once from a long plane flight, walked into the house, smelled the scent of this curry, that I hadn’t even known he had learned how to make, and promptly burst into tears. Enjoy.
3-5 medium onions, chopped fine
2 TBL ginger, chopped fine
4-5 garlic cloves, sliced
3 TBL vegetable oil
1 tsp black mustard seed
1 tsp cumin seed
1-2 TBL red chili powder
3 lbs chuck steak, cubed, about 1 inch pieces
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 TBL Sri Lankan curry powder
1 heaping tsp salt
3 pieces cinnamon stick
3 cloves
3 cardamom pods
1 dozen curry leaves
1/2 cup milk
3 medium russet potatoes, cut into large chunks
2-3 TBL lime juice
1. In a large pot, sauté onions, ginger, and garlic in oil on medium-high with mustard seed and cumin seeds until onions are golden/translucent (not brown), stirring as needed. Add chili powder and cook 1 minute, stirring. Immediately stir in ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, curry powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, and curry leaves.
2. Add beef and stir on high for a minute or two, browning the meat. Add milk, stirring. Cover, turn down to medium, and let cook half an hour, stirring occasionally.
3. Add potatoes, stir well, and cover again. Cook until potatoes are cooked through, adding water if needed to maintain a nice thick sauce (and to keep food from burning), stirring occasionally. Add lime juice; stir until well blended. Serve hot with rice or bread.
Last Order Shipped
Last order shipped today (more will go out tomorrow, I want to do a little more polishing work on a few of the resin pieces first) — two tea towels, a salvia resin pendant, and lots of milk toffee. Excellent.
Why Choose?
Milk toffee or passionfruit marshmallows? So hard to choose! Why choose? Get both! Also some scarves and a cookbook. I don’t know if this is being distributed to multiple people, or all for one lucky person. Both options are good.