Serendib Kitchen

Having fun prepping for the little Daly Bagel benefit brunch tomorrow. Amanda Daly and I are doing a little fusion bagel + Sri Lankan brunch (10-12 on Sunday), and I’ve been working on the menu. (Ticket link in comments — a few more spots available, until midnight tonight. $60 each, and you’ll be helping open up Amanda’s bagel shop!)

It’s super-interesting thinking about what Sri Lankan flavors would go well with bagels. 🙂 Amanda’s bringing chai bagels, also plain and I think sesame.

So far, I’m thinking:

a) green chili, onion, and vegetable frittata
b) curried salmon spread
c) Sri Lankan-style grilled jumbo shrimp (nice on a bagel sandwich with a little whipped cream cheese and some sliced tomatoes and red onion, maybe a little avocado?)
d) kale mallung (like a salad) with coconut, lime, and pomegranate seeds
e) curried chicken salad with mango and cashew
f) passionfruit & cream cheese spread (which I think might also be nice for tea sandwiches) — with a little mango w/chili and lime on the side, in case you’d like to add that

And then I’ve got some apple cider with ginger to mull, some mango kefir, and a little Sri Lankan arrack to add to the eggnog (if you like) because it’s the holiday season, after all. And Amanda was going to bring mango juice and prosecco.

I’ve just finished a batch of milk toffee too, so will put that out with the mulled apple cider marshmallows. Good? Good. 🙂

Now I need to think about what guests will get in their goody bags. I’m thinking some recipe postcards, rose & sandalwood bath salts, some jasmine & lime soaps, and batches of homemade curry powder, of course!

Plus $5 off if they’d like to buy a cookbook too. 🙂

#serendibkitchen
#dalybagel

My Sri Lankan cookbook, A Feast of Serendib, is coming out in bookstores next March, but we’re doing some early sales right now (we started shipping today!) for those who want to order before the holidays. We’re offering hand-roasted Sri Lankan curry powder too! Just got our first major review, from Publisher’s Weekly, and it’s glowing. 🙂 I’d love to do signed / personalized copies for your gifting needs, or for your own cooking pleasure.

Buy the cookbook: http://serendibkitchen.com/shop/
Locals: Copies are also available now at Jake’s Place Books, 142 Harrison Street! You can also request porch pick-up from Serendib House, at 332 Wisconsin (near Harlem and Washington).

Join the cookbook club on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mohanraj
Visit the cooking blog: http://www.serendibkitchen.com
Subscribe to the newsletter: https://tinyletter.com/mohanraj

*****

“Mohanraj (Bodies in Motion), a literature professor at the University of Illinois, Chicago, introduces readers to the comforting cuisine of Sri Lanka in this illuminating collection of more than 100 recipes. Waves of immigration from China, England, the Netherlands, and Portugal influenced the unique cuisine of Sri Lanka, Mohanraj writes, as evidenced by such dishes as Chinese rolls (a take on classic egg rolls in the form of stuffed crepes that are breaded and fried); fish cutlets (a culinary cousin of Dutch bitterballen fried croquettes); and English tea sandwiches (filled here with beets, spinach, and carrots). With Sri Lanka’s proximity to India, curry figures heavily, with options for chicken, lamb, cuttlefish, or mackerel. A number of poriyal dishes, consisting of sautéed vegetables with a featured ingredient, such as asparagus or brussels sprouts, showcase a Tamil influence. Throughout, Mohanraj does a superb job of combining easily sourced ingredients with clear, instructive guidance and menu recommendations for all manner of events, including a Royal Feast for over 200 people. This is a terrific survey of an overlooked cuisine.”

— Publisher’s Weekly

*****

And here’s a sample recipe; this one’s popular with children. 🙂 I make it at least once a week!

Ginger-Garlic Chicken
(30-90 minutes, serves 6-8)

The timing on this is so variable because you can either do it the long way described below, the way my mother recommends, which is definitely a bit tastier — or you can do a much faster version, where you mix the spices with the chicken, skip the marinating, and then just sauté the chicken in the pan on medium-high until cooked through and serve. I use both methods, mostly depending on how much of a hurry I’m in. Regardless of which method you use, this dish is best served fresh; if it sits, the chicken will tend to dry up and not be as tasty.

NOTE: This is my daughter’s favorite chicken dish, and one she always greets with delight; she started eating it when she was about five, with no added chili powder. Over time, I’ve added a little more chili powder when feeding it to both kids, serving with milk to help them along; you can also use black pepper if you’d prefer.

1 heaping tsp ginger powder
1 heaping tsp garlic powder
1 heaping tsp turmeric
1 tsp salt
12 chicken thighs, about 2 lbs., deboned and cut bite-size
vegetable oil for frying
1/2 to 2 heaping tsp red chili powder (to taste, optional)

1. Mix first four spices in a large bowl; add chicken pieces and rub with your hands until well coated. Marinate 1/2 hour.

2. Heat oil on high; add chili powder (if using) and cook 15 seconds, stirring.

3. Add chicken and sear on high, turning to brown all sides.

4. Reduce heat to low and cover; cook approximately 15-20 minutes, until meat is cooked through.

5. Uncover and cook until all the liquid is gone.

6. Tilt pan and push chicken pieces to one side; allow excess oil to drain to one side for 5 minutes. Remove chicken to dish and serve hot.

NOTE: If reheating a day or two later, I recommend reheating in a pan with a little coconut milk; just simmer 5-10 minutes, enough for the milk to thicken with the spices into a nice sauce. Or serve dry chicken with a nice coconut-milky vegetable curry, like carrot or beetroot curry.

*****

(likes / comments / shares appreciated for visibility!)

It’s tempting to just power through and pack everything and ship everything at once, but this is a part-time business and has to be fit into the interstices of the rest of our lives. We spent the morning on packing, primarily, and now Stephanie is off to pick up her son from preschool.

 

She’ll ship several orders out this afternoon, including the one for my parents (Navaratnasingam Mohanraj). There might be a few extra treats stuffed in that one. 🙂

Stephanie laughed when I threw a blanket over those boxes, but those are the ones that are all done and just need a label from her and to be taken to the post office. I don’t want the kids messing with them! Out of sight, out of mind…

 

As for the dining room, well, we did a bunch of order packing, and got all the packages up off the floor today, so that’s definitely progress. I’m going to pause (and give my back a bit of a rest) for lunch of kanavai curry with a piece of toasted naan, then sit in a nice comfy chair and work on the very overdue Wild Cards story. If I need a break between drafting scenes, though, there are plenty of orders left to pack…

The recipe postcards finally arrived, and they look beautiful, huzzah, so we can finally ship! Poor Stephanie has been rassling for hours this morning with the U.S. postal website, which is utterly failing to save edits right now (which would in theory let us print postage at home).

 

I think we’ve now given up and decided that it’s honestly simpler and faster to just print labels and take packages directly to the post office, rather than trying to arrange for pick-up (which we could schedule for Monday at the earliest anyway).

 

So these will be going out in batches, and I’m afraid the order is quite chaotic, so I can’t tell you who will get books first! But they’re going, they’re going. Out the door, into happy cooking hands…

 

I want to proclaim it Shipping Day! But it’s really more like the start of Shipping Weeks, I think. Close enough, though. 🙂

Hey, locals — here’s a little surprise treat! This Sunday, Amanda Daly and I are hosting a Sri Lankan bagel brunch. This was part of the Kickstarter Amanda ran to raise funds to help open a physical Daly Bagel shop (coming soon to 130 Chicago Ave. in Oak Park), and we have a few more slots left.

 

Tickets are $60, for this coming Sunday, 10 a.m. – 12 p.m. and include an experimental but guaranteed delicious fusion of Sri Lankan cuisine and Amanda’s awesome bagels, mango-passionfruit mimosas, and as much conversation about bagels, Sri Lankan food, and women starting up their own businesses (both brick-and-mortar and online) as you can stand.