Serendib Kitchen

Cauliflower poriyal is the recipe that got my kids to actually like a cooked vegetable for the first time. I give the credit to the salty, fried onions that intermingle so deliciously with the fried cauliflower.

The key to this dish is sautéing the cauliflower until it’s browned—the browned bits will be the tastiest.

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Cauliflower Poriyal

(25 minutes, serves 4)

3 medium onions, chopped coarsely
3 TBL vegetable oil or ghee
1/4 tsp black mustard seed
1/4 tsp cumin seed
1 medium cauliflower, chopped bite-size
1 rounded tsp salt
1 rounded tsp turmeric

1. Sauté onions in oil on high in a large nonstick frying pan with mustard seed and cumin seed, until onions are slightly softened (not brown). Add cauliflower, turmeric, and salt. (I’ve made this in a regular frying pan, and found that it’s difficult not to burn it; if you don’t use non-stick, you’ll need to stir constantly.)

2. Cook on medium-high, stirring frequently, until cauliflower is browned (mostly yellow, but with a fair bit of brown on the flatter parts). This takes a while—don’t stop too early, or it won’t be nearly as tasty. Serve hot.

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I thought I’d try something in January — posting 30 vegan Sri Lankan recipes from the new cookbook, which will hopefully entice people to try them. (If I get busy, they may spill over into February, but I’m going to do my best to do one a day!)

I’m going to try to take little cooking videos too, as I have time, so look for those as well. My versions won’t be fancy, but I imagine Emmanuel will dress them up for other use.

Happy New Year!

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Sri Lankan Milk Rice / Kiri Bath

(with Bottle Gourd (Labu) variation)

(serves 4, 25-40 minutes)

Kiri bath (pronounced ‘buth’), rice cooked with coconut milk, is an essential part of Sinhalese culinary tradition in Sri Lanka. It’s a required element on New Year’s Day (celebrated in April on a lunar cycle), and often eaten on the first day of each month. Kiri bath is generally served with lunu miris or other spicy sambols, although some prefer it sweet, with jaggery.

Sri Lanka has been a multi-ethnic society for over 2000 years, and when my parents’ Sinhalese neighbors made kiri bath, they would always bring some over to share with their Tamil friends.

I didn’t grow up cooking it myself, but it was always a particular treat when my Sinhalese friends made it for me. I love kiri bath with pol sambol plus a nice curry, and a little paruppu (dal / lentils) never goes amiss. Maybe a bit of brinjal moju (pickle) too!

I ran across an interesting variation through a cooking video (by Chandeena and her mother at Village Life: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EYvQ3S9ayU), where you add bottle gourd to the dish — it lends a lovely delicacy to the finished kiri bath, and may also serve to lighten it up a bit, for those who love the richness of flavor, but are perhaps being careful about their portion sizes of luscious rice and coconut milk.

Ingredients:

2 c. short grain white (or red) rice
3 c. water
2 c. coconut milk
1 1/2 t. salt
2 c. shredded bottle gourd (or cucumber), optional

1. Put rice, bottle gourd (if using), and water in a pan and bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat to medium, and cook 15 minutes. The rice should be mostly cooked at this point, but it’s fine if it’s a little firm still. (Red rice may want an extra 5 minutes.)

2. Add coconut milk and salt, stir well. Cover the pan again, turn heat to low, and cook for a further 10-15 minutes, until the milk is entirely absorbed. (Red rice may want an extra 5 minutes here too.)

3. Traditionally, you’d let it cool a little, turn it onto a flat plate, and smooth it (using a spatula or banana leaves) into a firm, flat round. Mark it off in squares or diamond shapes, and serve with your favorite sambols.