All over the world, there are food festivals, some principally focus on food and invite guest chefs from across the globe to share their creativity and skills Others like MAD in Copenhagen (coming up in May) focus on food, farming and environmental issues and try to come up with solutions to remedy your deeply flawed food system.
JR Ryall, pastry chef at Ballymaloe House and I recently travelled to Sri Lanka to participate in the Gourmet Galle festival which is now in its second year. It was originally created by the legendary Geoffrey Dobbs who also initiated the Galle Literary Festival in 2005, so this was my second time to make a guest appearance.
We created a Taste of Ballymaloe Dinner at the chic Charleston Hotel. The menu was a fusion of Sri Lankan and Irish ingredients. A beautiful side of Belvelly Smoked Salmon from artisan fish smoker, Frank Hederman came all the way from Ireland, we served it with a fresh cucumber pickle, devilled eggs and freshly baked, Ballymaloe brown yeast bread.
There were lots of beets in season, so we made a chilled beetroot soup drizzled with Sri Lankan buffalo curd and fresh coriander, very welcome in the Sri Lankan heat. Main course was roast free-range Sri Lankan pork with crackling, aubergines in the pickling style and rustic roast potatoes sprinkled with fresh rosemary.
Guests particularly loved JR’s sweet trolley and each and every one of the beautiful people tucked into a taste of absolutely everything on offer. Sri Lanka grows wonderful cashew nuts, so the praline ice cream was made with cashew nuts instead of almonds. JR layered up the panna cotta with a Sri Lankan espresso coffee jelly, a huge success. Little coconut meringues were topped with the sweetest Alfonso mango and a spoonful of tangy passion fruit and finally there was a wobbly, gooey chocolate tart.
All the recipes came from JR‘s Ballymaloe Desserts Cookbook, which we later found on the shelves of a fantastic independent bookshop in Unawatuna called Wild and Sage. It’s also got a sweet little café so put it on your Sri Lankan list if you’re planning to head that way.
We stayed in The Charleston in Galle Fort for several days, so we had the opportunity to do a bit of exploring. Of course, we visited the fish market on the edge of the lagoon plus the fruit and veg markets and lots of spice shops in the Muslim quarter where we learned how to source the very best Sri Lankan cinnamon, peppercorns, cardamon, nutmeg and mace.
Out in Tagalle, I watched the fishermen laboriously hauling in their horseshoe nets and sharing the catch. One of the traditional Sri Lankan Orrou boats sustains 8 to 10 families, it was really an honour to observe this time-honoured sustainable practice, most of the catch was whitebait. Occasionally, they caught a couple of sear fish which was like winning the lotto for them – l long to return to Sri Lanka, loved the food, the traditions, the countryside and the warm and friendly people.
A special thank you to Ivo Richli at The
Charleston in Galle Fort for sharing these recipes for this week’s column.
Sri Lankan Potato Curry
Curry leaves particularly are an essential ingredient in Sri Lankan cooking. Neither fresh pandan or curry leaves, as yet are available in supermarkets but are now widely accessible in Asian shops. Buy extra and freeze a few.
Serves 4
Ingredients
4 medium potatoes – 600g approx.
3 tbsp onions or shallots, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove minced
3 pieces of pandan leaves (about 10cm each)
1 sprig of fresh curry leaves
1 green chili sliced
1⁄4 tsp turmeric powder
1⁄2 tsp curry powder * (see recipe)
⁄8 tsp fenugreek seeds
3⁄4 tsp salt (adjust to your taste)
225ml water (you may need more or less)
350ml thick coconut milk
3 drops of freshly squeezed lime juice (optional)
Method
Wash and peel the medium size potatoes (a waxy type like Yukon gold potatoes is preferred). Cut them into quarters or to 6 pieces of your potatoes are on the bigger side. Make sure all the potatoes are roughly equal in size. Then put them into a deep saucepan.
Add all the ingredients except the water, thick coconut milk, and lime juice. Then add your water and mix well. You might want to adjust the amount of water depending on the vessel and the number of potatoes you use.
Cook covered until the potatoes are fork-tender. This means you should be able to poke the potatoes with a fork without much resistance. It’s okay to have about 50ml of water left. If you have more water than that then increase the heat and leave the pot uncovered and let the water evaporate. If your potatoes are still not cooked and all your water has evaporated then add some water, cover the pot, and cook until potatoes are tender. Do not overcook your potatoes otherwise, they will become mush. So, keep an eye on them and check the doneness of your potatoes from time to time.
Now lower the heat and add your thick coconut milk.
Mix gently without breaking your potatoes. Bring the coconut milk to simmer. And then keep gently mixing the curry continuously for about 5 mins without breaking the potatoes so your coconut milk wouldn’t curdle. Make sure you taste the curry and adjust the salt too.
Turn off the heat and keep stirring it gently until the curry cools down a little bit.
Then squeeze a few drops of lime juice. (this step is totally optional) it thickens up the curry just a little bit more, helps to cut through the creaminess.
Sri Lankan Curry Powder
It’s worth making your own batch of Sri Lankan curry powder. It takes ten minutes and will keep in the fridge in a jar for three months.
30g coriander seeds
15g cumin seeds
15g fennel seeds
15g black peppercorns
2 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
8-10 fresh curry leaves
70g dried Kashmiri or medium hot red chillies
¼ tsp ground turmeric
In a
dry pan over a low-medium heat, roast the coriander, cumin, fennel and black
peppercorns for 1-2 minutes, stirring regularly, until they begin to be really
fragrant, then pour them into a bowl. Add the oil to the pan and cook the curry
leaves and dried chillies for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat
and when cool, blitz in a spice grinder or food processor until fine – blitz in
batches if needs be. Stir in the turmeric and store in a jam jar.
Ceylon Chicken Curry
Curry leaves are an essential ingredient in many Sri Lankan dishes. Fresh are best but if you don’t have an Asian shop close by, use frozen or dried. In both Sri Lanka and India, sauce is referred to as gravy.
Serves 8
Ingredients
900g whole chicken, cut into small portions
2-3 tbsp coconut oil or vegetable oil
½ onion, diced or sliced
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2.5cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
2 ½ tbsp roasted Sri Lankan curry powder (available in Asian shops)
1 tsp chili powder
1 cinnamon stick (preferably Ceylon cinnamon)
6-7 fresh curry leaves
2 serrano green chili
½ tsp salt plus more to taste
2 medium-sized tomatoes
110ml full-fat coconut milk
110ml water
Prepare the bone-in chicken by cutting it into smaller pieces. Each piece should be fairly small but not bite-sized. The larger the chicken piece, the longer it will take to cook through, so it’s important to keep the pieces fairly similar in size.
Add the coconut oil into a large saucepan and heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onions and cook until they start to soften. Add the garlic and ginger to the softened onions, and sauté until the garlic starts to soften. Make sure it doesn’t burn.
Add the curry powder, chili powder, cinnamon, curry leaves, and mix to combine. Cook for a few minutes until you start to smell the spices.
Add the chicken, green chili, salt, tomatoes, and mix to coat. Cook for 10 minutes with the lid off, on medium high heat. Frequently stir to make sure the chicken or the spices don’t burn.
Add coconut milk, water, and bring the curry to a boil. If you want less gravy, add less liquid.
Lower the heat and let it simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Leave the lid off if you want to reduce the liquid content in the curry.
The chicken should be completely cooked by this point. This will depend on the size of the chicken pieces and the stove you use.
Taste the curry and season with more salt to taste if needed.
If the chicken curry gravy is too thin, or there’s too much of it, uncover and simmer the curry for a further 10 minutes or longer. This step is optional, but it allows the water to evaporate and for the gravy to thicken. If you want more gravy, you can add more water or coconut milk, but you will need to adjust the flavour accordingly.
Turn
off the heat and let the chicken cool down slightly. Serve with rice or roti.
Sawborow
These delicious crunchy biscuits were in our room as a welcome treat on our arrival at The Charleston in Galle Fort. Remember sago? It gives a delicious crunchy texture to the Sawborow. Sawborow keep really well in an airtight container for up to 1 month.
Makes 100 approx.
Ingredients
1kg sago
1.4kg freshly grated coconut
1kg sugar
40g breadcrumbs
20g fennel seed
50g coconut butter
Method
Preheat the oven to 120°C
Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Combine all ingredients and mix with your hands until the mixture sticks together, adding 1-2 tablespoons of water if necessary. The moisture in the coconut will determine if you need the additional water.
Place a cookie/biscuit cutter (7.5cm approx.) on the baking sheet. Add a few tablespoons of the mixture and using the back of a spoon, press down until tight and compact. Carefully remove the cookie/biscuit cutter.
Repeat until all of the mixture has been used.
Bake for 45 minutes until pale golden, turn over and bake the other side for 15 minutes.
Note: When you remove the sawborow from the oven, they will appear to be soft, but they become very crispy as they cool.