with Mary Anne Mohanraj
Interesting — the Montreal Gazette had previously ran a piece on Feast, but they’ve also now pulled out the deviled shrimp recipe for a separate piece.
Six O’Clock Solution: Shrimp a devilish if costly delight
Serves 6 to 8 3 tablespoons (45 mL) vegetable oil 3 to 5 medium onions, diced 1 teaspoon (5 mL) black mustard seed 1 teaspoon (5 mL) cumin seed 1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 mL) cayenne, to taste 2 pounds (1 kg) shrimp, peeled, deveined 2/3 cup (150
Can you tell I’m cleaning out my phone? 
An uppuma photo from last week that I forgot to post. Now I want uppuma again. It was pretty funny listening to the latest episode of Home Cooking, and hearing Samin Nosrat learn about uppuma. I think of her as such a professional, I figure she knows basically everything about food, but she’d never heard of uppuma, and I just felt so sad for her.
This is very very basic uppuma, the kind I make when I’m in a rush — five minutes from start to finish, and just water, cream o’ wheat (semolina), butter and salt for ingredients. I lived on this stuff in grad school, generally with mackerel and egg curry. Very cheap, incredibly delicious.
If you have a few extra minutes to make it more fancy / nutritious, you’d start with melting the butter (or ghee, or just using oil), sautéing some cashews and peas and mustard seeds in there, maybe some curry leaves and chopped green chili, etc. and so on — but honestly, I love it just like this.
Welcome to day 4 of Tuesday. It looks like an end is in sight, perhaps, but I am resolutely not counting any chickens yet; I’m not even looking at the chickens, there ain’t any chickens around here, we are on a strictly vegan diet until the AP News and the NY Times and maybe 3-4 other places tell us it’s time to look at chickens — this metaphor is getting away from me.
Plan for today is to keep my head down and work for as long as I can make myself do so, while the fate of the nation hangs in the balance. I have a recipe to post, masks to sew, student work to review, some optional assignments to assign (at this point in the semester, during a pandemic and a national election, a whole bunch of work that is normally required is turning optional, and I am very fine with that decision), a sci-fi podcast Kickstarter to launch, and Patreon treat boxes to announce.
Those are the important things that have to get done today. Beyond that, a Wild Cards story to work on, garden clean-up tasks, house clean-up tasks, laundry, maybe an exercise walk with a friend, etc. and so on.
All fueled by a nice fusion breakfast this morning — I toasted up some sausage rolls from our local Irish store (they bake them themselves), and had them with fresh-made brinjal moju (eggplant pickle). The spicy sweet tang of the moju cuts beautifully through the richness of the flaky sausage roll. Yum. Brinjal moju recipe coming very shortly!
I think we have a pumpkin curry tea towel design. Pumpkin, leaf and vines by Kavya, recipe by me.
I’ll need to order a proof before it’s available for sale, but I’m going to order that ASAP, so it should be available soon. In time for Thanksgiving orders, perhaps?
This will also be available as part of the one of the Patreon treat boxes — more on those tomorrow, I think.
I’m giving myself all the points for actually cooking a reasonable dinner tonight (chicken curry and uppuma and Roshani’s coconut sambol — going old-school), AND putting in 30 minutes on the treadmill. Cooking and eating and treadmilling were pretty good distractions too.
But there will be ice cream soon. And wine.
1 batch pumpkin curry (see recipe here: http://serendibkitchen.com/2020/11/01/pumpkin-curry/)
1/2 – 1 t. additional salt, to taste
Optional garnishes: coconut milk, marigold petals, Sri Lankan-style roasted pumpkin seeds (recipe here: http://serendibkitchen.com/2020/11/01/roasted-pumpkin-seeds-sri-lankan-style/)
1. Make pumpkin curry in a large pot. (I recommend peeling the pumpkin if you plan to use it for soup.)
2. Add stock and cinnamon stick, bring to a boil, turn down and simmer for 20 minutes or so, stirring occasionally.
3. Remove cinnamon stick and purée until smooth. Optional, but makes it pretty and gives the soup a velvety texture — an immersion blender makes this job much easier than trying to transfer hot soup into a blender safely.
4. Stir in lime juice, taste, add salt if needed.
5. Serve hot, garnished with a swirl of thick coconut milk, edible marigold petals, and roasted pumpkin seeds.
(30-45 minutes, feeds 8)
The orange pumpkins that are so familiar in America don’t actually grow in Sri Lanka, but the same approach used for Sri Lankan ash pumpkins (also known as wintermelon) works well for orange pumpkins too, offering a mild, comforting curry rich in autumn flavor,
Typically in Sri Lanka, you’d leave the pumpkin skin on for cooking, and it can then either be eaten, or removed easily with your fingers. But if you’re eating with a fork instead of your clean hand, that may be a little tricky to manage — feel free to peel your pumpkin if you like.
One key to this curry is to cut the pumpkin into different sized chunks, so that the smaller pumpkin pieces dissolve into a curry sauce, and the larger ones stay in soft pieces.
I used a medium-sized five pound pumpkin for this dish, but you can certainly reduce the quantity — just reduce the onions and other spices roughly proportionately. But one nice aspect of making a big pumpkin curry, is that after you’ve eaten it for a day or two, any leftovers can be put on the stove, some broth added, and cooked down into a lovely soup. The soup also freezes well.
pomegranate and pumpkin seeds for garnish, optional
1. Heat oil in a large pot and sauté onions, ginger, garlic, chilies, and spices over medium heat, stirring, until onions are golden-translucent.
2. Add pumpkin, curry leaves, coconut milk and water; bring to a boil, then turn down to a simmer.
3. Simmer uncovered (adding more water if needed) until the largest pieces of pumpkin are soft and cooked through, about 20-25 minutes. Serve hot with rice or bread, garnished with pomegranate and pumpkin seeds.
Chilly outside, but a little tropical sunshine on my plate. I’m cooking mostly vegan food these days, developing recipes for the cookbook, but we’re also still trying to support our local restaurants — we got Thai takeout last night, so there’s a little Thai sausage and chicken satay on the plate, then going clockwise, tempered plantain peel, fresh mango, and spicy plantain curry. Luxurious.
(45 minutes, serves 4)
Green plantains are starchy and not sweet, more like a vegetable than a fruit — if you’ve had tostones, those are made from green plantains. Expect these fried green plantain bites to be much like potatoes in texture, but with a flavor all their own; I like them simmered in a mild coconut milk curry, with just a hint of green chili.
NOTE: You can save plantain peels to cook them too.
1-2 T lime juice
1. Cut plantains in half lengthwise and remove peel with a paring knife. Slice plantains on the diagonal in roughly 1/4″ slices, then toss with 1/2 t. salt and turmeric.
2. Heat oil and fry plantain slices until golden; remove to a plate lined with kitchen towels and set aside.
3. In a separate large sauté pan, heat 1-2 T of the oil and add onion, chilies, curry leaves, fenugreek seeds, and salt. Sauté about 10 minutes on medium-high, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened and translucent.
4. Add coconut milk and water, then add fried plantains. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer 15 minutes, until curry sauce has thickened. Serve hot with rice or bread.
(30 minutes, serves 4)
Sri Lanka grows a host of plantains and bananas; this type of curry is typically made with a variety known as ash plantain. That’s not easy to find in America, but luckily, plantains generally have become much more available, and they work beautifully in this dish. You can even use very green bananas if you like.
After the first frying stage, the plantains should be just a little bit sweet, and can be eaten straight up if you like as a snack, or added to a plate of rice and curries. But add them to this curry sauce, and the spicy, tangy sauce meets the sweetness of the fried plantain, for what I can only call a taste explosion. In a good way!
NOTE: You can save plantain or banana peels to cook them too.
1-2 T lime juice
1. Slice plantains on the diagonal in roughly 1/4″ slices, then toss with 1/2 t. salt and turmeric.
2. Heat oil and fry plantain slices until golden; remove to a plate lined with kitchen towels and set aside.
3. In a separate large sauté pan, heat 1-2 T of the oil and add onion, chilies, curry leaves, and fenugreek seeds. Sauté about 10 minutes on medium-high, stirring occasionally, until onions are softened and translucent.
4. Add cayenne, curry powder, and 1/2 t. salt, and stir a few minutes more, then stir in coconut milk.
5. Add fried plantain and lime juice; stir gently to combine. Turn off heat and let sit for 5-10 minutes; the plantains will absorb much of the sauce. Serve hot with rice or bread.
