Cook like a local!

Saturday, 26 April 2014 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

A traditional vegetarian cooking experience with Nadee

By Tashiya De Mel What do you like the most about Sri Lankan food? Is it the copious amounts of coconut milk? Perhaps the abundance of chilli? Whatever your reason could be, it’s undeniable that Sri Lankan food, in this case, rice and curry, is undoubtedly one of the most delicious meals (ever). We joined Nadee, a resident of Kandy, in her home, for a unique cooking lesson in traditional Sri Lankan rice and curry. Cooking is in Nadee’s blood; she comes from a family of great cooks, who are all passionate about what they do. Her greatest inspiration is her mother, who also happens to be an outstanding cook.

"If you’re interested in learning to cook like a local and get insider access to delicious home cooked recipes, Nadee’s kitchen is the place to go! Nadee currently works from home and in her free time enjoys having people cook with her and relish her traditional treats." Where the magic happens She takes us to her kitchen, where all the magic happens. One of the first things I noticed was how organised she was. There was a bowl or dish for everything she was preparing and she made sure that each of the items had been cleaned and sanitised before use. She uses all local ingredients, but provides alternative for visitors who don’t live in Sri Lanka. Nadee also takes pride in the colour combinations of her dishes, making sure that that there is a balance of colours. She also takes flavour into account and goes out of her way to balance the spicy, sour, sweet, and neutral dishes. Before we arrive she had prepared: Polos Ambul (slow cooked, spicy, and tender jack-fruit curry) – A spicy vegetarian dish cooked the previous night, as it needed time to ferment. Biling chutney – This was interesting, since I’d never heard of anyone using biling (also known as ‘bilimbi,’ a close relative of carambola tree) for anything other than to satisfy the occasional craving of a sour fruit fix. The chutney was made with sugar, making it different to the conventional curry version of it. Special dishes We helped her prepare one of her favourite dishes: Green gram white curry. According to Nadee, this is a better option than dhal for a white curry. It tastes a lot different and is more nutritious. She adds coriander (cilantro), cumin, saffron, and leaves the dish to cook at low heat. Prior preparation: The green gram is soaked for about 30 minutes or can be put in pressure cooker (if it’s not soaked, it takes more time to cook). Once it has cooked for sufficient time, it appears soft and crumbly. Before it is cooked, Nadee advises to wash, and roast the green gram while wet, place them in a gunny bag and de shell the grains for better taste. To finish the dish off, Nadee tempers onion, red chilli, and garlic in some oil and adds it as a garnish on the top of the curry for extra colour.

Chickpea batter fried abalone mushrooms – The batter is made using chickpea powder (or cornflour), vegetarian oyster sauce, salt, soy sauce, saffron( for colour) and/or chilli powder. We are instructed to fry it with coconut oil or olive oil and cook till it appears as a golden brown colour. Our final dish was gotukala, a super food we are all quite familiar with. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it is part of the parsley family, native to Sri Lanka and India. In Sri Lankan cuisine it is most often prepared as a mallum, a traditional accompaniment to rice and curry. The leaves need to be cut very finely and tossed with diced onions, tomatoes, freshly grated coconut, with a dash of salt and lime. It is essential that you mix all the ingredients by hand or it will not taste the same. Delicious dishes After all the preparation we finally sat down for our meal! And it was sure worth the wait. If you’re interested in learning to cook like a local and get insider access to delicious home cooked recipes, Nadee’s kitchen is the place to go! Nadee currently works from home and in her free time enjoys having people cook with her and relish her traditional treats (Trekurious together with DailyFT explores Sri Lanka for the curious traveller. Trekurious works with talented individuals and great brands to create amazing experiential tours, activities, and events in Sri Lanka. You can find out more at www.Trekurious.com.)