A Feast of Serendib is a fabulous new Sri Lankan American cookbook by author Mary Anne Mohanraj.
Buy the Book: A Feast of Serendib is available in hardcover and eBook, and can be found online at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-A-Million, and more! Please contact your bookstores and libraries to request that they carry it!
You can also order directly from us! We’re happy to offer you signed / personalized editions, as well as the exclusive paperback edition.
Read more reviews for A Feast of Serendib!
Explore a gallery of food photos from throughout the cookbook!
“Mohanraj does a superb job of combining easily sourced ingredients with clear, instructive guidance and menu recommendations for all manner of events…a terrific survey of an overlooked cuisine.” – Publisher’s Weekly
“Mohanraj’s research driven approach to recipe development makes Feast a reliable introduction to Sri Lankan cooking for adventurous home-cooks and a sound resource for Sri Lankan families hoping to reclaim their culinary traditions at home.” – Melissa Elsmo, Oak Park Eats
If you’d like to support the development of more mostly Sri Lankan recipes, I’d love to have you join the cookbook club — for $2 / month, you’ll get recipes delivered to your inbox (fairly) regularly: https://www.patreon.com/mohanraj
And here’s all the foodie social media:
Serendib Kitchen blog: http://serendibkitchen.com
Serendib Kitchen Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serendib_kitchen/
Serendib FB Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/132029834135500/
Serendib FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/mohanrajserendib/
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Excerpt from Mary Anne’s Introduction: “We come together with other Sri Lankans—homelander and diaspora, Sinhalese and Tamil, Buddhist and Hindu and Christian and Muslim—over delicious shared meals. Sri Lanka has been a multi-ethnic society for over two thousand years, with neighbors of different ethnicities, languages, religions, living side by side. We try to teach our children to be welcoming to all, to share our unique cultural traditions. That is part of what it means to be Sri Lankan, what it has always meant.
Can we choose the good parts of our culture to cherish, and leave the darker aspects behind? I hope so. I hope food can help provide a pathway there. Come together at our table, sharing milk rice and pol sambol, paruppu and crab curry. Linger over the chai—just one more cup. Eat, drink, and share joy.”
Learn more about Sri Lankan Food:
• Ethnic Heritage and Colonial Influences
• The Structure of Sri Lankan Meals
• Master Recipe: Sri Lankan Curry Powder
Table of Contents: A Feast of Serendib includes all of the above, plus:
Master Recipe: Seasoned Onions
Appetizers / ‘Short Eats’ and Snacks
Chili-Mango Cashews / Kari-Maangai Kaju
Chinese Rolls (usually Mutton)
Curried Mushroom Spread
Curry Buns / Mas Paan
Fish (or Ground Beef, or Vegetable) Cutlets
Plain or Prawn Lentil Patties / Kadalai or Iraal Vadai
Patties (usually Chicken)
Ribbon Tea Sandwiches (Carrot, Beet, and Spinach)
Tangy Shrimp on Toast
Eggs, Poultry, and Meat
Introduction to Meat and Poultry Curries
Deviled Chili Eggs
Egg Curry / Muttai Kari
Omelette
Omelette Curry
Eggs in Meatballs / Scotch Eggs / Nargisi (Narcissus) Kofta
Braised Pepper Chicken
Chicken Curry / Kozhi Kari
Deviled Chicken
Ginger-Garlic Chicken
Roast Barbecue Chicken
Fried Liver Curry / Eeral Kari
Black Pork Curry / Panri Iraichchi Kari / Padre Kari
Meatball Curry / Frikkadel
Goat (Mutton) Curry / Aattu Irachchi Kari
Lamb Curry / Semmari Aattu Iraichchi Kari
Beef Smoore / Mas Ismoru
Beef and Potato Curry / Mas Kizhangu Kari
Tangy Peppered Beef Stew
Fish and Seafood
Crab Curry / Nandu Kari
Cuttlefish or Squid Curry / Kanavai Kari
Deviled Shrimp
Fish White Curry / Meen Kari
Mackerel and Egg Curry
Tamarind Shrimp Curry / Iral Kari
Spicy Fried Fish / Poricha Meen
Spicy-Tangy Fish / Ambulthiyal
Vegetables
Basic Approaches to Vegetables
Curry (vegetables cooked in coconut milk)
Beet Curry
Carrot and Green Bean Curry
Cashew Curry / Kaju Kari
Drumstick Curry / Murungaikkai Kari
Eggplant Curry / Kathrikkai Kari
Green Mango Curry / Mankkai Kari
Green Jackfruit Curry / Pilakkai Kari
Okra Curry / Vendikkai Kari
Ripe Jackfruit Curry / Palapazham Kari
Deviled (vegetables fried with cayenne, tomato and onions)
Deviled Potatoes / Urulai Kizhangu
Poriyal (vegetables fried with seasoned onions)
Asparagus Poriyal
Brussels Sprouts Poriyal
Cauliflower Poriyal
Eggplant, Potato, and Pea Pod Poriyal
Mixed Vegetable Poriyal
Tempered (cooked vegetables mixed with seasoned onions)
Tempered Lentils / Paruppu
Tempered Potatoes
Varai (steamed or stir-fried vegetables with coconut)
Broccoli Varai
Cabbage Varai / Muttaikoss Varai
Green Bean Varai
Special Dishes
* Lime-Masala Mushrooms
Vegetable and Lentil Stew / Sambar
Accompaniments
Cucumber Salad
Pickled Beet Salad
Green Coconut Chutney / Thengai Chutney
Mango-Ginger Chutney
Bitter Gourd Sambol / Paavakkai Sambol
Chili Onion Sambol / Lunu Miris Sambol
Coconut Sambol / Thengai-Poo, or Pol Sambol
Eggplant Sambol / Kattharikkai Sambol
Kale Sambol
Sweet Onion Sambol / Seeni Sambol
Coconut Milk Gravy / Sothi
Coriander Soup / Kothamalli Rasam
Cucumber-Tomato Raita
Leeks Fried with Chili
Mango Pickle / Maangai Oorukkai
Grains
Bombay Toast / Bombatoast
Chopped Roti Stir-Fry / Kottu Roti
Golden Rice Pilaf
Herbal Porridge / Kola Kenda
Hoppers / Appam
Lamb Biryani (or Goat, Beef, or Chicken)
Noodles
Plain Roti / Kothambu Roti
Red Rice Congee
Savory Rice Pancakes / Thosai
Steamed Rice Cakes / Idli
Steamed Rice Flour and Coconut / Arisi-Maa Pittu
Steamed Rice Flour and Coconut with Milk / Pal Pittu
Stir-Fried Semolina / Uppuma
Stringhoppers / Idiyappam
Stringhopper Biryani / Idiyappam Biryani
Vegetarian Biryani
Drinks
Chai
Cocktails
Falooda
Fresh Sweet Lime Juice / Thesikkai Saaru
Mango Lassi
Mango-Passionfruit Punch or Mimosa
Sweets
Love Cake
Mango Fluff
Marshmallows
Milk Toffee / Pal Tofi
Rich Cake
Spiced Coconut Custard / Vattalappam
Sweet Thosai / Inippu Thosai
Tropical Fruit Salad with Ginger-Lime-Honey Dressing
Tropical Fruit Salad with Chili, Salt, and Lime