Category: Accompaniments

One of the Kickstarter reward tiers involved a set of 3 chutneys, sambols, pickles, that kind of thing. Clearly seeni (sweet onion) sambol had to be one of them, and green tomato chutney was a lovely way to use up the last of the summer’s tomatoes. But what to do for the third choice? So many options!

I went with a pineapple achar (pickle), one of the new recipes (I think) in Vegan Serendib. There’s a little bit left in my fridge for me, so I’m planning on having that with fish curry and uppuma later today. Mmm…. We also have some roast chicken, and I think pineapple achar would make a great sandwich component with that.

Making the seeni sambol (my favorite condiment in the world).

One of the Kickstarter tiers included three chutneys / sambols, so I’m making those now. I made a green tomato chutney already, and today is seeni sambol (so many onions!), and I’m not sure what I’ll do for the third. Must ponder.

(It’s too late to get in on this action, but of course, if you have one of the cookbooks, you can make your own…)

A little more cooking from yesterday — this is one of my favorite Sri Lankan accompaniments, leeks fried with chili. I like it for two main reasons:

a) it’s great to have a spicy accompaniment, so that if you’re serving a large group and some people might not want spicy and some might, you can make the other dishes on the milder side, and then this goes well with almost everything to bring the heat for those who want it

b) although the recipe says 50 minutes, most of that you can be doing other things — there’s only about 10 minutes of active cooking, when you’re slicing the leeks, washing the grit out, and starting the sauté with spices. AND, if you’re willing to stand and stir on higher heat, you can knock it out much faster — I think the whole thing took me about 20 minutes yesterday, so I was able to make it while the rice finished cooking.

Recipe link in comments.

Recipe here: https://serendibkitchen.com/…/sri-lankan-green-tomato…/

Green peaches make a nice Sri Lankan-style pickle.

I pretty much just used my pineapple pickle recipe and subbed in green peaches instead, easing back a little on the spice level so the subtlety of the peaches could come through.

https://serendibkitchen.com/…/spicy-pineapple-pickle…/

(45 minutes, serves 8.)

This is basically my mango-ginger chutney, but with cherries, because cherries are in season now, and I keep buying them because I love them so.

You don’t actually need to cook a chutney—you can just chop up some fruit and mix it with spices and serve; that would be common in Sri Lanka. But I prefer a more blended chutney, with a mellower flavor. A great quick appetizer for a party is serving this with crackers and cheddar cheese.

3 c. cherries, pitted and halved
1 rounded tsp salt
1 cup malt vinegar
3 dried chilies (optional)
3 TBL fresh ginger, peeled and chopped fine
3/4 – 1 cup sugar
1/3 cup dried fruit (I used a mix of what I had on hand, but raisins, sultanas, mango, etc., would all be good)

1 rounded tsp Sri Lankan curry powder

1. Put cherries in a large bowl and sprinkle with salt.

2. Remove stalks and seeds from chilies (if used) and soak chilies in a little vinegar for 10 minutes. Combine vinegar, ginger, and chilies in a blender and blend (you can alternatively pound the chilies with a mortar and pestle and grate the ginger in).

3. Put blended mixture in a stainless steel pan with curry powder and sugar and bring to a boil. Simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.

4. Add cherries and dried fruit. Turn heat back to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until thick and syrupy.

5. Cool and serve with rice and curries, or add to a sandwich – it’s great with grilled chicken or pork. You can also use the slightly more liquid version as a salad dressing.

Note: You can substitute green apples, pears, apricots, etc. for cherries. Or mix and match!

Note 2: If not eating immediately, store in a jar in the fridge for a few weeks, or in the pantry for months, if canned and sterilized properly.

You can tell I’m not as frantic as I was, because I have time to do optional cooking again. There were a few months there when I was working harder and longer than I ever have in my life, and eating became very functional — too many frozen meals, packet ramen, whatever was easy and fast. I was relatively careful about nutrition, so it worked okay as body fuel, but it wasn’t food that made me happy.

There are certain condiments that I’d always like to have in my fridge. Fresh tomatillo sauce; Kevin makes a great one. Pol (coconut) sambol. MD green chili sauce. But if I had to pick just one condiment, it’d be seeni sambol — sweet and spicy and salty, all balanced for a hit of amazing flavor.

Last week, I finally took the time to replenish my supply of seeni sambol, which is a long, slow process, caramelizing the onions. I can’t do it when I’m running frantic. I generally make the vegan version, so Kevin can eat it too, because he doesn’t like fish. It’s better with the little punch of Maldive fish, but it’s still really, really good without. If I want a teatime snack, a slice of toasted bread with butter and seeni sambol is perfect with a cup of hot, sweet, milky tea.

For breakfast today, I took a little naan and some leftover grilled steak from last night’s dinner, and topped that with seeni sambol. A few minutes in the toaster oven, and I had a delicious breakfast. A lot healthier than reheating a frozen meal too!

It’s so nice, to be able to take proper care of myself again. Having a fresh jar of seeni sambol in the fridge is just comforting. I’m going to try not to let that run out again — it’s like the canary in the coal mine. When I’m out of seeni sambol, it’s a sign that I’m working too hard, and it’s time to try to slow down.

Do you have a must-have condiment that makes everything in your life better? Or is that just me?

Recipe here: https://serendibkitchen.com/…/sweet-onion-sambol-seeni…/