Cooking Session 31
Cabbage Thoran, Sri Lankan Fish Curry + Coastal Flavours & Cookbooks + Family Chicken Curry Recipe
Happy Friday friends!
When I first moved to Australia about 18 years ago, one of the first plants I bought at a farmer’s market was a curry leaf plant. Curry leaves are a much-loved ingredient in the Southern Indian diaspora. Through migration and settlement, this beautiful herbaceous leaf has become a staple across the cuisines of Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Burma, Indonesia and the Pacific Islands.
Lemony and peppery in their flavour profile, curry leaves are used as a whole spice and tempered in hot oil at the start of a dish. They have an incredibly fragrant aroma and a very unique taste. To everyone who cooks with curry leaves, the fragrance and taste evoke a coastal feel - warm breeze, fresh seafood brimming with spices, creamy coconut sauces and golden yellow bowls filled with deliciousness.
My original curry leaf plant sits restrained in a large pot that usually never gets watered. Yet, it thrives. And often produces a little plantling, that I plant in the dirt in my garden. And that thrives too. It grows unrestrained and verdant, abundant in its leaves with black and ruby cherries when the season is ripe. It means that I never have to go without curry leaves. I pick the leaves and freeze them. I pluck them fresh off the branches and cook with them. It is a delightful process. One that yields beautiful dishes from the cuisines of Southern India, Sri Lanka and Malaysia (some of my favourites).
Lately, I have been cooking a lot of beautiful coastal dishes and I have two delicious recipes you can try out this weekend - a beautiful fish curry and a simple dry veggie curry with that only takes 10 minutes!
I leave you with a delightful moment I captured in my garden. Two lorikeets in love! x
Fresh Recipes This Week
Sri Lankan Fish Curry
Sri Lankan fish curries fall under two categories - a milder yellow curry and a spicier red curry. Typically made with sailfish, the yellow curry is delicate and fragrant with lemongrass, lime, turmeric and tamarind. The sour flavours blend beautifully with the gentle spice and the sweetness of the coconut. The result is a mouth-watering curry that is ready in just about 30 minutes. I’ve made this with Australian barramundi (one of my favourite fish to cook with!).
Cabbage Thoran
A vibrant, healthy, South Indian cabbage curry from the state of Kerala, home of the stunning backwater, houseboats, tea plantations, beaches and spice markets. Based on the Ayurvedic principle of cooking salad veggies very briefly to soften them while still retaining their crunch, this curry is like a delicious warm salad. It takes only 10 minutes to make, smells amazing and has immense health benefits.
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The Best Chicken Curry / Serves 6
My dad makes the best Indian chicken curry. Right from the aroma that evokes an authentic little Indian restaurant or a dhaba (roadside shacks along the great highways of India that cook decadent curries over an open fire) to its authentic taste. I have taken his recipe and created an easy Oven-baked version that is to die for! Clever cooking at its finest .. the oven reduces the sauce to a luscious, creamy consistency while roasting the chicken simultaneously to golden perfection.
For the chicken
1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp flaky salt
¼ cup yoghurt
For the curry sauce
3 tomatoes, chopped
1 onion, chopped
10 garlic cloves
1 inch piece of ginger
½ red cayenne chilli
Handful of coriander stalks and leaves
1 cup water
For the chicken curry
2 tbsps olive oil
2 bay leaves
1 cinnamon stick
1 black cardamom
6 cloves
1 tsp cumin seeds
½ tsp ground turmeric
½ tsp ground cardamom
½ tsp red chilli powder
½ tsp garam masala
2 tbsps tikka or butter chicken paste
Salt to taste
1 tbsp butter, julienned ginger, chilli slices
coriander, lemon wedges – to serve
1. Add all ingredients for the marinade in large bowl. Mix well and rest in the fridge for 30 mins.
2. Make curry sauce base by blending all ingredients for it in a blender until smooth.
3. Preheat oven to 190°C.
4. Heat olive oil in a large pan on medium.
5. Add bay leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and cumin. Saute for a few seconds.
6. Add marinated chicken. saute on high heat for 3-5 mins until skin is seared.
7. Reduce heat to medium. Add curry sauce mixture, turmeric, chilli powder, cardamom, garam masala, tikka paste and salt. Mix well.
8. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 mins until sauce has reduced. Remove from oven.
9. Heat butter in small saucepan. Saute ginger and chilli for a few seconds. Drizzle over baked curry.
10. Garnish with coriander and serve with lemon wedges and rice.
Coastal Cookbook Inspiration
These are some of my favourite cookbooks for coastal cooking - inspired by the Southern Indian diaspora.
3 Delicious Asian Meals To Cook This Week
Currently Cooking, Reading, Watching, Learning ..
This is Camino - Russell Moore + Allison Hopelain - A brilliant book by a brilliant chef who is driving inventive food, running a restaurant and showing vegetables the love they deserve.
Viral bread dipping oil? Oh yes!
Prawn Saganaki Spaghetti. Yum!
Cheesy Gnocchi in a Pizza Bread Bowl!
Food in Prose
“Side dish is a very misleading term. It implies something that exists only to serve as an accompaniment to something else. No disrespect to a great chicken or an expensive steak, but it’s no secret that sides are often the most delicious thing on the table. In fact, I make a meal of “just sides” all the time and don’t see anything wrong in your doing that either. Side dishes deserve our unrestrained love and utmost respect! Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
~ Alison Roman (Nothing Fancy)
This post is for everyone. Thank you for reading and being a part of my little food community. Please feel free to share this deliciousness. x
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I guess that people like me who are not on Instagram are out of luck when it comes to getting your recipes?
Inspired to get a curry tree now!