My Blue Tea goes in search of Sri Lankan cuisine and things get spicy!
Happy International Women's Day!
It's not hard to find someone who would gush to you about Indian cuisine and how much they love their curry, and how the spicier it is, the more they enjoy it. Kind of like a badge of honour to say you like your curry flaming hot!
Mention Sri Lankan cuisine and they may well gloss it over and put it in the same box as Indian cuisine, thinking Sri Lanka is in India. How many would honestly confess to not knowing where this tiny island nation is? Truth be told, most would sheepishly confess they aren't really sure.
(Answer: It's just southeast of the southern tip of India).
Hey, not everyone was a fan of geography in school. Better late than never when it comes to learning things!
Sri Lankan cuisine...with a touch of Malaysia
My Blue Tea got fascinated with Sri Lankan cuisine recently because a Cambodian friend and her Sri Lankan husband came by for a visit and we started chatting about food (what else?!).
We whipped up a tantalising dish of satays (this is barbecue season after all!) and Ayam Goreng Berempah/Spiced Fried Chicken (our Sri Lankan friend immediately ordered 15 packs!) for our guests and got drawn into a very interesting conversation about Sri Lankan cuisine. Everyone savoured every satay stick and nope, Spicy Fried Chicken ain't spicy for them! It's finger licking spicy yumminess!
Buy in bulk and save!
It was really curious for us to learn that Sri Lankans are fascinated by deep fried food and snacks. And what really got our attention was how there's a lot of common food and even culture with Malaysia. So we're talking here about the history of the colonial days under the Portuguese/Dutch/British.
One of the founders of My Blue Tea is from Malaysia, so we couldn't help but prick up our ears when we heard about sharing this common gastronomical influence. That is also why we have our beautiful Super Spice blends from Kuala Lumpur and Kuching, Sarawak.
Beetroot Curry, anyone?
In Malaysia, we do not have Beetroot Curry, so we were fascinated when we heard about this. When it comes to food, we never stop learning, and we are always ready to find out more when we hear about something new.
Sri Lanka uses a lot of Pandan Leaves in their curry, which is another plus point for My Blue Tea. Readers familiar to us will know us as the Pandan Queen supplier. Yes, we really LOVE our Pandan!
So if you are curious about this dish, snoop around in your pantry and if you have some beetroot, why not give this recipe a go?
Recipe for Beetroot Curry
Ingredients:
350 g small beetroot, peeled, trimmed, stems reserved if desired
50 ghee
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 long green chillies, finely chopped
1 tspn @my.blue.tea Pandan Powder
1 sprig curry leaves
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 cinnamon quill
½ tsp turmeric powder
3 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp caster sugar
1 pack @my.blue.tea Spargo Coconut Milk Powder (diluted in 150ml water)
Benefits of My Blue Tea's Dehydrated Coconut Milk Powder (DCM)
*Easy to use
*Easy to travel with i.e. lightweight (perfect for campers)
*Easy to store (in an airtight container in your pantry. In Asia we store everything in a Milo tin or biscuit tin)
*Coconut Milk or Coconut Cream - you decide - add the amount of water to make it into Coconut Milk or Coconut Cream
*Our Coconut milk powder does not "curdle" even after reheating your food 3x nor does it change the flavour of your curry
Method :
1. Take the beetroot and peel off the skin. Wash it well and cut it into small pieces.
2. Chop the onion and slice the green chillies. Also, get ready the following: coconut milk, meat base curry powder, curry leaves, turmeric powder, and salt.
3. Place the pan on the stove and add the beetroot. Also add onions, green chillies, curry leaves, turmeric powder, and salt. On top of that, add two tablespoons of cooking oil. Mix everything well and switch on the flame.
4. Cook covered under high heat for 2 to 4 minutes.
5. Take off the lid, stir and mix. Again cook covered under medium heat for 2 to 4 minutes.
6. Add the thin coconut milk and mix it up. (You can make another version of Beetroot curry without coconut milk).
Spice Up Your Beet!
This may not be an authentic Sri Lankan Beetroot curry but hey we're about marrying food and cultures! And you´d really want to sample a taste of this! In fact, we made some last weekend and we licked the bowl clean! The sweetness of the beetroot cuts through the spiciness of our Meat Curry base powder. A marriage made in food heaven!
The beetroot was given to us by a good friend, Tin. That was the sweetest beetroot ever, perfect for the Beetroot curry. She was from Burma (now Myanmar) and was an Economics lecturer at the University of New England for a large part of her career. She has settled in Kendall for over 20 years now. Tin started the community garden in Kendall and also raised funds locally for the homeless. We worked in several projects e.g. Country Women's Association (CWA) topic for 2022/2022 focusing on Malaysian food and agriculture. Tin wanted more information and our products to showcase. Of course we were delighted to be a part of her collaborations! In the photograph above, you can see Tin proudly showing her chunky beetroots. We also had a smile as wide as hers when we were eating the Beetroot Curry!
And we wish to dedicate this year's Happy International Women's Day to Sister Tin as she cooks and care for the refugees and homeless up in our way at the Mid North Coast. If you have anything that you wish to giveaway, contact us and we will arrange to get it to Sister Tin.
Last Christmas together with Sister Tin we contributed Chicken Curry, Rice and Fried Noodles and various products (i.e. essentials) from friends and small business for the Lunar New Year which we packed and donated to our friends in Laurieton.
A Touch of Roselle
And if you don't have enough of "red" foods in your system after the Beetroot curry, why not cool down the meal with a refreshing Roselle + Lime or lemons + Honey (or any sweetness of your choice) drink?
Roselle is a good source of nutrients, vitamins and minerals.
Consuming 100 grams of raw Roselle offers 215 mg of Calcium, 1.48 mg of Iron, 12 mg of Vitamin C, 51 mg of Magnesium, 6.0 g of Carbohydrate, 37 mg of Phosphorus, 208 mg of Potassium, as well as Vitamin A, Vitamin B1, B2 and B3.
Learn more about My Blue Tea´s superfood Roselle here. and Lady in Red tea with Roselle and Rosehip.
So now you know a Sri Lankan-Malaysian dish you can whip up any time! My Blue Tea loves our food because it brings people together. Learning about different cultures and their cuisine, finding similarities and a shared history, appreciating the vast variety and differences that make eating so much more fun and richer than simply consuming mindlessly.
The next time you travel or meet a friend from another culture, find out about their cuisine - you may learn a thing or two and have another exotic dish under your belt!
Stay Tuned for exciting things happening soon!
Sources :-
Archana Kitchen