with Mary Anne Mohanraj
Bopped over to check the Kickstarter (it’s the last two days, so after ignoring it for weeks, I’m now obsessively checking it every hour or so), and we broke $7000, woot! 
The question is, will we get to the $7500 stretch goal before time runs out?
How badly does the internet want my shortbread?
https://www.kickstarter.com/…/vegan-serendib-a-sri…
I feel like I should now be singing something about my shortbread bringing all the boys and girls and gentlebeings to the yard…
It’s funny; I used to not like lentils. Everyone always raved about Amma’s paripoo, but it just didn’t work for me.
But boy, I love this Sri Lankan lentil curry. Bryan thought it was the best thing we served at the party, and I think he was right. I have to credit Ethiopian food — falling in love with that cuisine in college led me around to loving lentils.
Recipe here: https://serendibkitchen.com/…/tempered-lentils-paripoo…/
I’ve just added stretch goal #2 — if we make it to $7500, I’m committing to Serendib Teatime (I may fiddle with the name some), a selection of afternoon tea delights.
One of my favorite things to do when visiting Sri Lanka is enjoy seaside afternoon tea at the Galle Face Hotel — little sandwiches with the crusts cut off, cakes and cookies and scones, fried prawns, and of course, the best Ceylon tea. Yum.
https://www.kickstarter.com/…/vegan-serendib-a…/comments
Pledge at the $3 level or higher to get a copy of all funded ebooks — the cocktail party ebook is guaranteed now; the teatime one…well, we’ll see. We’re at $6881 now, so it’s promising, but not definite.
Photo from a tea tasting Karina and I did at a hill country plantation in 2005.
Sigh. I wrote up a perfectly good vegan garlic curry recipe for the vegan cookbook. It was delicious. But then I thought…you know what this would be great as? The base for a chicken curry. So I cut up six chicken thighs and tossed them in, simmered for 15 minutes or so, and oh my god, that’s stunning.
I’m never going to manage to go fully vegan, folks. I just don’t have the willpower. I’ll have to settle for just reducing meat consumption, at least for now. (I still dream of discovering massive reserves of willpower in my old age….)
This one is for all the folks who say there can never be too much garlic in a dish. I’m no expert on Ayurvedic cooking, but from what I’ve read, garlic is used widely in Ayurvedic medicine, with claims that it’s good for the heart, hair, and digestive systems.
On the other hand, some practitioners recommend being sparing when you eat garlic and onions, as they can have a ‘heating’ effect, and some of us may run rather ‘hot’ already… I leave such weighty health decisions up to the cook! I will only vouch for this dish being delicious.
1 T tamarind paste
1. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, onions, chilies, salt, pepper, fennel, mustard, fenugreek, and curry leaves; sauté, stirring occasionally, until golden-translucent.
2. Add coconut milk, curry powder, and tamarind paste. Bring to a boil, stirring to combine, then reduce the heat and simmer until the gravy has reduced by half. Serve hot with rice or bread.
I had half a cup of pineapple juice, and an open can of mango pulp, so I pretty much had to make pineapple-mango marshmallows…
Made brownies yesterday. Fussy recipe, but they honestly came out as delicious as I’ve ever imagined a brownie, so I can’t complain.
Couldn’t find our 8″ square pan, so made one batch in the scone pan (use plenty of Baker’s Joy, because brownies tend to stick), and one batch (with cherries) in a pie plate. Both delicious, though I think we could’ve added some foil to protect the edge of the cherry one and baked it just a little longer; the cherries put off enough moisture that the center is a little goopy.
Yummy goop, though. 
Recipe: https://www.epicurious.com/…/best-cocoa-brownies-108346
Mango fluff recipe is over at the Serendib Kitchen blog: https://serendibkitchen.com/…/mango-lime-pineapple-fluff/
Along with a video of me and Kavi making it together:
https://serendibkitchen.com/2020/04/13/mango-fluff-2/
Kavi made this for me for…Mother’s Day? Something not so long ago. Very kid-friendly recipe.
I’ll note that you can totally use vegetarian gelatin for this. I haven’t been able to get vegetarian gelatin to set well enough for actual marshmallows yet, but it works fine for fluff.
I’m not sure how to make it vegan — I’d need a substitute for the Cool Whip, which has skimmed milk in it. I’m guessing you can whip coconut milk? I should try that sometime soon; if I can, then I can include it in the Vegan Serendib cookbook.
Mango fluff all done, although if I get a chance to cut up some fresh mango and use it to decorate the top I will — there’s crushed pineapple in there already, but fresh mango will make it a) tastier and b) prettier.
It’s also a little disconcerting not having all my pretty serveware, but I’m cooking at Jed’s and then transiting up to Alex and Christa’s, so I decided that foil trays really were the better part of valor here. I’m sure they have some pretty serveware I can use, but since I have to transport anyway, foil trays are just practical as heck. This is more of a family party than a formal party.
