Cooking Together Sri Lankan – Ajwaini Chicken; Kaju Maluwa Curry;

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Cooking Together Sri Lankan – Ajwaini Chicken; Kaju Maluwa Curry;

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Our cooking together cookery classes are as much about learning to cook as they are a sociable experience. We hope you enjoyed your class and are ready to recreate the meals at home. The recipes work really well as delicious dinners and make a great combination for dinner party ideas. 

You Cooked:

  1. Starter: Ajwaini Chicken, Sri Lankan Tomato curry and Pol Roti;
  2. Main: Kaju Maluwa Curry, Pomegranate Kachumber, side – Kottu Roti
  3. Dessert: Chocolate Brownie or Lemon Posset

Ajwaini Chicken – Starter

Ingredients – Serves 2:

  • – Chicken breast or thighs, cut into pieces 2x
  • – Corn flour 3tsp
  • – Salt and pepper to taste
  • – Ajwain 2tsp (ground carom seeds)
  • – 2cm of fresh ginger, grated
  • – 2 cloves of fresh garlic, grated
  • – Turmeric ¼ tsp
  • – Onion powder ½ tsp
  • – Vegetable oil for cooking

Method:

  1. Dip the chicken into garlic and ginger and massage it together. Mix cornflour, onion powder, turmeric, toasted carom seeds and coat the chicken well.
  2.  
  3. Shallow fry in 2 cm of hot oil until crispy and golden, flip and repeat. Add to the curry sauce to cook thoroughly for 12-15 minutes, depending on the size of the chicken.

Sri Lankan Tomato Curry – Starter

Ingredients – Serves 2:

  • – Chilli sauce ½ tsp
  • – Chopped tomatoes 400g
  • – 1tsp of Sri Lankan spice mix * see below
  • – Vinegar white 1tbsp
  • – Palm sugar 1tsp
  • – Curry leaves 3x
  • – Grated ginger 2cm, peeled and grated
  • – Green chilli 1x
  • – Garlic 2 cloves, peeled
  • – 1x white onion, peeled and sliced
  • – 1 tbsp of yoghurt to finish
  • – 1 red pepper, sliced
  • – 2tbsp of vegetable oil
  • – Seasoning

Method:

  1. Place a medium saucepan on heat, add 1 tbsp of oil and sauté onion until cooked, for about five minutes, followed by garlic. Sauté for extra minute, make sure not to burn it.
  2.  
  3. Add ginger and chilli and cook off for a minute, followed by spice mix.
  4.  
  5. Spices need to be cooked off well to prevent grainy sauce.
  6.  
  7. All the other ingredients can go in, apart from yoghurt.
  8.  
  9. Cook for at least 15minutes on lower heat, finish with yoghurt, garnish with coriander.

Pol Roti – starter

Ingredients – Makes 16 Flatbreads:

  • – 170g plain or 00 flour – plus extra for dusting
  • – 20g of desiccated coconut
  • – 10 ml of olive oil
  • 10ml coconut butter
  • – 80ml water
  • – 0.5tsp of baking powder

Method:

  1. Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, stir all together using a wooden spoon…once it all combines, take the dough with your hand until it becomes a springy dough.   If your dough is too sticky, add a little more flour. If too crumbly, add a little more water.
  2.  
  3. Set Aside – it doesn’t need to rest for long, but you can wait until you need to cook. 
  4.  
  5. Split dough into 8 balls, heat frying pan to high heat, while the temperature builds, sprinkle flour on clean work surface or board, and some on your rolling pin.
  6.  
  7. Take a ball of dough, flatten into rough circle with your hand then roll until thin, keep turning and flipping over.
  8.  
  9. Add 2 -3 flatbreads to your pan at a time and cook until you see the rotis blister and char.
  10.  
  11. Once both sides cooked, keep wrapped in tea towel – this softens your flatbreads.

Kaju Maluwa Curry – Main

Ingredients – Serves 6-8:

  • – vegetable oil
  • – 1 large onion, diced
  • – 5-cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and chopped
  • – 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • – 2 green chillies, trimmed and chopped
  • – 1x courgette, sliced
  • – 6 fresh or frozen curry leaves
  • – 2 teaspoons ground turmeric
  • – 1 cinnamon stick
  • – 1 tablespoon Madras curry powder
  • – 2 x 400ml cans coconut milk
  • – 1 tablespoon caster sugar (optional)
  • – 400ml boiling water
  • – Salt and pepper
  • – 250g roasted cashew nuts, to garnish
  • – 50g of toasted desiccated coconut to garnish

Method:

  1. Heat a splash of oil in a large saucepan, sauté onion, garlic, ginger and chillies for 5 minutes.
  2.  
  3. Add the curry leaves and fry quickly for 10–15 seconds, being careful not to burn them.
  4.  
  5. Add all the spices, fry for a couple of minutes.
  6.  
  7. Stir in the coconut cream, creamed coconut and sugar. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes, until the curry has thickened and reduced, add courgette for the last 5 minutes.
  8.  
  9. Spoon the curry into bowls, garnish with roasted cashew nuts and coconut and serve with the rice, Coconut Rotis and Tomato & Coconut Sambal. If your curry is still too thin at this stage, you can mix in half of the toasted coconut, this will thicken it.
  10.  
  11. We have added Ajwaini chicken to the sauce as well and cooked it together for 15 minutes.

Kottu Roti – side for main dish, use Paratha recipe

Ingredients – Serves 2:

  • – 2 leftover paratha bread, sliced into 1cm pieces
  • – 1 small white onion, diced
  • – 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • – 1 greed chilli, diced
  • – 1 tsp of madras
  • – 1tsp of Sri Lankan roasted curry spice *see below
  • – 1 carrot, peeled and shredded
  • – 1 spring onion, sliced
  • – ½ courgette, diced
  • – Handful of cooked new potatoes, sliced
  • – 2 egg omelette made in advance, chilled and sliced
  • – 2tbsp of fresh coconut, chopped roughly
  • – Handful of chopped coriander
  • – 2 tbsp of vegetable oil

Method:

  1. Put a deeper, non-stick frying pan on medium heat, add splash of oil and sauté pre-cooked potatoes until golden.
  2. Next, we sauté the onion until caramelised, followed by garlic. Garlic needs only 1 minute or so.
  3. Add courgettes and fresh coconut and cook for 5 minutes until courgette has softened.
  4. Next, throw in chillies, spices, spring onions, carrots, omelette and paratha.
  5. Cook for further few minutes, garnish with loads of chopped coriander and serve immediately alongside your favourite curry sauce.

Pomegranate Kachumber – main (optional)

Ingredients – Serves 2:

  • – 1x plum tomato, de-seeded and diced
  • – 1 small red onion, diced
  • – 1tbsp extra virgin oil
  • – 1 lime, zest and juice
  • – ½ cucumber, de-seeded and diced
  • – Handful of pomegranate seeds
  • – Salt and pepper
  • – 2tbsp of fresh parsley, chopped
  • – 2tbsp of fresh coriander, chopped

Method:

  1. Add all the ingredients into a mixing bowl, toss and let marinade for at least 20 minutes.

Paratha Bread

Ingredients – Makes 8:

  • – 420g Maida flour, plus more for rolling
  • – 1 tablespoon salt
  • – 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, or other neutral oil
  • – 240ml warm water
  • – 16 tablespoons softened ghee, divided into 8

Method:

  1. To Make the Dough: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour and salt until combined, about 1 minute. Add oil and rub evenly into flour, about 5 minutes. Make a well in the center of flour and pour in 1 cup (240ml) of warm water. Roughly combine flour and water with your fingers until just brought together, about 1 minute. Next, knead dough until it forms a sticky ball, about 5 minutes. Leave dough in bowl and cover with plastic wrap or a moist towel. Set aside to rest at room temperature for at least 1 hour and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
  2.  
  3. After dough has rested, divide into 8 equal portions. Work with one portion of dough at a time, keeping remaining dough covered with a moist towel or plastic wrap while not handling.
  4.  
  5. For the First Roll: On a clean surface, roll out dough as thin as possible, sprinkling flour as needed to prevent dough from sticking to the rolling pin. The final dimensions of the dough should be roughly 16 inches by 10 inches, and should be paper thin and translucent.
  6.  
  7. Using a small spatula, dab 1 tablespoon of softened ghee across surface of rolled out dough. Sprinkle a pinch of flour over ghee. Starting from the top, roll dough sheet until it is coiled into one long snake. Coil each end of the dough log inward until they meet at the center, then fold the two coils onto each other and press together firmly. Set aside coiled dough ball to rest covered for at least one hour at room temperature and up to 24 hours in the refrigerator.
  8.  
  9. For the Final Roll: On a lightly floured surface with a rolling pin, roll each coiled dough ball into a circle about 8 inches in diameter and 1/8-inch thick. Lightly dust paratha, rolling pin, and counter with flour as needed to prevent sticking, dusting off any excess flour at the end. Rotate paratha after each roll to maintain an even shape. Cook rolled out parathas right away, or store between layers of parchment and wrapped in plastic wrap in the refrigerator for up to three days.
  10.  
  11. Cooking the Parathas: Preheat a heavy gauge 10-12 inch skillet over medium-low heat. Working with one paratha at a time, cook in the dry skillet until dusty and dry to the touch, about 3 minutes per side. (After this first cook, the parathas can be stacked between sheets of parchment, wrapped in plastic, and stored in the refrigerator for 1 week or freezer for 3 months and cooked from frozen as needed).
  12.  
  13. Preheat the same skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of ghee and cook 1 paratha at a time until golden brown and crispy, about 1 minute per side. Once cooked through, scrunch paratha to release any built-up steam. Serve right away or hold warm wrapped in a kitchen towel and in a 250°F (121°C) oven for up to 1 hour.

Chilli Tomato Chutney – optional extra

Ingredients:

  • – 500g red onions, finely sliced
  • – 1kg fresh cherry tomatoes, chopped
  • – 250g of roasted red peppers, pealed
  • – 4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
  • – 8 – 12 fresh red chillies, roughly chopped
  • – a thumb-size piece of ginger, peeled and chopped
  • – 250g brown sugar
  • – 150ml red wine vinegar
  • – 5 cardamom seeds
  • – 1/2 tablespoon paprika

Method:

  1. Place all of your ingredients into a large, heavy-based pan and bring to a gentle simmer, stirring occasionally.
  2.  
  3. Simmer for 1 hour.
  4.  
  5. Using a handheld blender, blend all of the ingredients, but not so much that it becomes a puree.
  6.  
  7. After simmering, bring to a gentle boil so that the mixture turns dark, jammy and shiny.
  8.  
  9. Place into sterilized jars and place in the fridge for the night. Will keep for 6 weeks.

* Sri Lankan Spice Mix – this was pre made for you, used in tomato curry & Kottu

Makes plenty so save in a jar for future

Ingredients:

  • – 4 tbsp Coriander seeds
  • – 2 tbsp Fennel seeds
  • – 2 tbsp Cumin seeds
  • – 1 tsp Black peppercorns
  • – 1 tsp Mustard seeds
  • – 1/2 tsp Fenugreek seeds
  • – 5 Cloves
  • – 5 Cardamom pods shelled
  • – 2 sprigs Curry leaves

Method:

  1. Heat a fry pan in medium high.
  2.  
  3. Add all the spices, seeds, and curry leaves. Keep stirring continuously and roast for about 5 minutes or till the cumin seeds turn golden brown and mustard seeds start to splutter. Curry leaves should turn dry and dark.
  4.  
  5. Transfer the spice blend to a plate and let it cool for a minute. Then use a spice or coffee grinder to grind to a smooth powder.
  6.  
  7. Transfer to an airtight container and use a dry spoon when you need to scoop out the curry powder.
  8.  
  9. This makes about 1/2 cup of curry powder. Double or triple as needed.
Dessert Recipes

Use the link above to explore the Food Sorcery favourite dessert recipes

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