Okra is called ladies fingers in English in Sri Lanka or bandakka in Sinhala. I’m used to calling it okra, so that’s what I’ll go with. 🙂 One of Fahim’s cousin, knowing that I’m interested in cooking Sri Lankan food, gave me a Sri Lankan cookbook a year or so back. It’s called Ceylon Cookery …
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Poll: Sammy the Sourdough needs a new name!
My first sourdough starter was named Nellie. Nellie as in Little House On The Prairie Nellie Olsen Nellie. Nellie because she was difficult, ornery, whiny, and just a general pain in the buttinski. It wasn’t her fault she was that way – I raised her in a “stainless steel” environment. “Stainless steel” in brackets cuz …
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Cabbage Mallung
A mallung (also spelled mallum) is a Sri Lankan dish made with some type of vegetable or leaf that’s cooked with freshly shredded coconut. They’re usually cooked for a fairly short period of time and are fairly quick dishes to put together. A note on cabbage. If you’re not a fan – like me …
Ala Badun, aka Sri Lankan Devilled Potato & Onions
I’m not a potato person. I grew up on boiled-until-glue potatoes six days a week and, you know, it just got old. Once I had a choice about what food was made/what groceries were bought, I swore off potatoes for a good many years. A few years ago, though, I tried out Ala Badun and …
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Weight vs. Volume Measurements in Cooking
I always knew that the UK gallon and the US gallon were different. What I didn’t know – and should have – is that the US cup vs. the Canadian cup are different. Oh, sure, Canadians were an English colony, so of course our gallons were UK gallons, not US. And then I recently learned …
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Baking on the Stove: Experiment 1
Fahim complained (read: whine ;-)) a few days ago that, by day three, my breakfast sweet buns were starting to get a bit stale. Well, yes, I agree, the buns are definitely at their best on day one. But baking single-serving buns in the oven would be a huge waste of gas. As it is, …
Sri Lankan Food and Me
The question came up on Twitter about me, a Canadian, living in Sri Lanka, and what are my cuisine experiences, how do I cope, and whatnot. That’s really quite a big question in a lot of ways. Sri Lankan food is quite spicy. From what I hear, it’s on the spicy end of the scale …
Fried Fish
This is a very basic, easy recipe that requires little work, and it’s good for any small fish like salaya, handella, or sprats, all of which are fish under 5″ long. If you fry it only until the flesh of the fish is cooked, then the small bones can be, ah, uncomfortable going down. Fry …
Thai Enchiladas
Yeah, I know – it sounds bizarre. Fahim, Lou, Ike, and I did a massive shopping trip at Majestic City today. Massive. At some point in all of this, we’re hungry and head into the basement where the food court is. We’re all prepared to be pretty much disappointed – this is, after all, a …
Making yoghurt without a yoghurt maker
Techniques for making yogurt if you do not have an appliance designed for it. With a thermos Almost fill a thermos bottle (preferably widemouthed) with milk heated to 100 degrees F. Add 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt and mix thoroughly. Put the lid on and wrap the thermos in two or three terry towels. Set …