Pad Thai

I thought I knew how to do this, and did. And it was good. But having a blog helps me learn -- when I started trying to write out my method, I thought I should look around the web for how its done by others. And now I feel my way wasn't 'right.' Not that I'm against changing things around, I just feel I've been missing what's what about this dish. So here is a promise to work it out, and write out a proper Pad Thai in Sri Lanka recipe and method soon!

Until then I think Pim's blog, which has a really detailed account, is the best guide.

Orange Chicken, with Chille Peanut Sauce

Readers of my blog know I like to use stocks as a base to secure the solidity of flavors. My lentil soups are an example of this, the idea being that lentils are cooked, reduced in a chicken stock, perhaps with a vegetable like red pepper, and then pureed and creamed. And of course, my basic chicken soup, which i make almost once a week, with stock, fresh or dried noodles and scallions, is another. Some months ago though, i thought i should 'kick this up a notch,' as that TV guy Emiril used to say. But my way.
What about marinating chicken, and then cooking it in the stock, i thought. This works really well, even with boneless chicken breast, a healthy but often flavorless cut. Marinating the sliced breast over night, in a over salted chicken stock, (which is called brine-ing -) does the trick. Even if you wash off the breasts once, lightly, before cooking, it will be super moist and flavorful as you cook it in the rest of the stock, with your favorite greens, because of the osmosis of the salted stock into the chicken.
Now that was good, but then i got ambitious. Yes, i tried to kick it up another little notch. Why not make the brine more complex, i thought, and add a complimentary flavor to the stock. Variations, no doubt abound, but i settled on a orange stock reduction brine (that just sugarless orange juice -- fresh is best, but expensive -- boiled down to a half with chicken stock, with a teaspoon of salt for a cup). I used boned, sliced chicken thighs this time, and let it marinade over night. When it was ready, i got the rest of the stock to a simmer, and added peanut butter, stirring until it was melted, and chillie pieces. Then I browned the marinated chicken, very quicky in a seperate pan, and added it to the stock, letting it simmer for 20 mins. Yes, brineing allows for shortened cooking times, which doesn't dry out the chicken as happens in 'traditional' Sri Lankan chicken dishes. Right at the end, add a sprinkling of fresh, crushed orange. A little cream, or coconut milk power is also a nice addition
I loved the flavor gradients of this dish, from the complimentary orange, to the stay invoking, smooth, nutty, hot on the mouth sauce, and the succulent chicken morsels. The critter who lives near the bar top, who claims to know about food and things said, "its bold!." Ah..well.

Sunday Extra

 
My posts on my short trip to the south of france, are being auto-posted by blogger, using the scheduling thing they have, but i couldn't resist a little some thing in between. its sunday. i didn't cook any thing special, but just reheated some roast chicken i had in the fridge.
now it was okay, but what was wonderful, was the fresh tomatoes and green chillies i added on top.
that's some thing to treasure about living in sri lanka: fresh green chillies, on any thing!

Roast pork, with fruit relish

Me? I've been roasting a lot of pork lately.
Trying to really understand how to do it well -- and make a memorable dish of it. Can't say I've got there yet, but hey its fun to try.
-- this loin was marinated in red wine vinegar, pineapple juice, over night, then stuffed with fresh pineapple and roasted. The meat was subtly flavored, I wonder if I could make that stronger.
Since not even I can eat a whole loin of roast pork at a sitting, I've been having this in sliced helpings over a few days.
When I warm it, I add a little sesame oil, and that really gives it fine, nutty overlay.
The relish is diced pineapple and mango with red chilli pieces -- some thing I've done with black bean beef earlier, on the blog.

Would you like try some? Seriously, if you are into food, and like the kind of stuff I cook (meats predominate right now) -- I'd like to hear from you -- if you can offer thoughtful comments on what you taste.
Really.
Leave a note on the blog or let me know on facebook, and I'll get back to you.

Red Chili Rice

I’ve been trying to fuse risotto with kiribath. A risotto is typically rice, cooked in butter or olive oil, and then boiled in a flavorful stock. But there are variations, where milk is used instead of broth. Let's stay with that thought. Kiribath, on the other hand, is rice cooked in coconut milk, and some times infused with spices and jaggery for thai pongal. That's a sweet infusion; I want, yes, kata-dana.
Now I haven't got these dishes married yet -- I'm still playing with kiribath and I've been thinking of a two stage, savory kiribath over the past weeks -- I’ve done a green chili one, and today I tried a red chili one.

To make this, you take a cup of cooked basmati rice, a cup of thick coconut milk (1/3 cup of power to 2/3 cup of hot water), and boil it down in a heavy bottomed pan. When its really thick but before it begins to stick to the bottom, add two tablespoons of your favorite chili sauce – (I tried it today with one called thai heritage), a teaspoon of sugar and pinch of salt, and stir it all nicely.
Its red chili rice. Your done! Its got a very milky texture of course, and smooth, soothing, soft taste to begin with, before the sharp heat kicks in.
I had to force my self to stop, take the photographs, before I finished the whole cup.
Then I had bottle of soda; it was that hot! But good.

Amu, Rathu, Kochchi: Chilies are for burning

I've been photographing dried red chilies as I cook for some time; but just yesterday there was a bag of kochchi, and half ripended green chilli in the house.
I wasn't cooking, but I just went snip snip with the knife, and frame on top, is one result.

Kata Dana Pizza

After I'd blogged about my very own chillie laden pizza, I read Andrew ‘Shandy’ Sutton’s blog post on his favorite pizza place in Colombo the pizzeria at the Hotel Colombo Continental, or just the (old) Intercon, for those of us who grew up in Colombo. I’ve read Shandy’s reliable and responsible restaurant reviews before, and I remembered the beautiful location, of the Intercon Pizzeria, which over looks the sea, so I was keen to try it again, after all these years.
So we went over, Malathi and I, on Sunday afternoon. It was way to hot to sit on deck by the ocean, but we found a shady post over looking the pool on the other side. We ordered two pizza, and they took along time, way way long, nearly an hour, perhaps because the order had to travel to the main kitchen, and back, but I’d say it was worth it.

Malathi got a deviled prawn and tomato, the prawns were small and not very deviled, but the dough was lovely, and chewy, and flavors of topping so fresh and sharp. I got the capsicum salami one, and oh my, that was even better, the crispness of picante taste (a word I get from Kuntz & Kaminsky’s Elements of Taste), what we might call, kata-dana, blended so well with the melted cheese. It went well with my Carlsberg, and was Shandy promised, not very expensive at all – but you know what, I preferred my own, my home made Kata Dana Pizza.

So there!

Mango + Chillie

Mango + Chillie
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

It wasn't really a sour mango; even though the colour seemed a little pale.
but i added a whole heaped tea spoon of chillie pieces, anyway and a small pinch of salt.
It seems enough for lunch, eating any else for awhile will only spoil the lingering burn of pleasure, deep on my tongue.

Pizza, in Sri Lanka

When I was a kid growing up in Colombo and Galle, there wasn't the option of pizza delivery. Pizza itsself wasn’t that well known; in the early 80s, there was a place called Gillo’s, and they had it, as I recall. But all the other places, where you got finger food – Fountain café, Green Cabin and of course Zellers– didn’t have pizza.
So I first really encountered it, as some thing I could have on whim, when I was living in Cambridge, Mass, in the then run down part of that great town, Central Square. Hi-Fi pizza, which still exited when I visited in 2004, in a considerably spruced up environment, was our main stay, because they sold slices, and were open past mid night. And in those now memorable days of youth, every one in my MIT dormitory would be up, arguing about nothing at all, letting the time go by, punting as used to say, until big Bill Houston would stand, and announce he was making a pizza run.
Hi-Fi pizza slices were cheesy and soft on the inside, crisp at the edges, and really super with pepperoni, cos it’s the meat had bite. I loved those late night slices, but even more, after sprinkling miris kalli, on them. I think any Sri Lankan, who likes pizza, likes loads of red chillie pieces sprinkled on their share.

And of course, when you order some from Dominos or Pizza hut, as you can these days, they do send the packets along.
But isn’t that kind of second hand?
Why not redo Pizza, our way?
That’s what I did the other day, and I loved how it tasted.

Okay, here goes.
I used ‘large’ pizza bread from 7 stars, which I got at Laughs. Its only 135.00 for about six or seven 12” ish pieces, which is cheap as bread, isn’t it? Cool. Then I got a whole fat thing of Kotmale Mozzarella, which is available frozen at the same place, and I dare say all over. It was okay Motze, and well not as expensive as the shredded imported from Australia stuff.

Method, as it were:
Score the pizza bread in even lines, and smooth a thin layer of olive oil on it. (This will make the bread really nice.) Add another light layer of Chillie Sauce (I used MD, since I’m old fashioned), and then nice two or three heaped spoons of chillie pieces. Not power now, it’ll burn. Add a layer of chopped cheese, right over all that. Then a sprinkling on salt, just lightly, with two fingers.
I had heated up my grill/oven to max, which is about 480F I think. Or 280C. Then warm an oven proof pan on the stove, adding a tiny bit of olive oil on that also, and let the loaded pizza bread heat on that, pan toasting the bottom, before transferring it the oven after two mins. After 10 mins in oven, take out that nicely melted and browning pizza, and resisting any desire to pick at it, add a sliced Bombay onion, some sliced deli meat, if you like that, (I tried it with 70g of Food City beef salami, and it was super), and more grated cheese. If you want to grate Kotmale Motze, it has to be frozen (or else it’s too soft)– so keep a bit frozen. Grated cheese right on top, will melt more smoothly for a nice finish. So add this second layer, a little more olive oil, just a tiny bit now, a tad more chillie pieces, and then put it in for another 5 mins.

And when you eat it, the chillie cheese flavor is almost right in the bread, which has baked in light flavor of salted (olive) oil, making up a savory taste we all know, but perhaps can’t name.
Simple and great.

PS: I thought this recent piece in the New York Times, about the gourmet pizza place, Mozza, fascinating. They use very high heat, and custom made dough.



Update: this recipe and a photograph was published in Zero77, issue 2.

Chillie Mangtini

Chiliie Mangtini
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

I made what I think is a kinda cool drink today. I’m calling it a Chillie Mangtini.

This is how it goes:

100 ml vodka (I used Absolut. I’d have used Gray Goose if I had it)
50 ml dry vermouth
50 ml mango juice
½ tea spoon (and that’s a little spoon) Chinese chillie paste (I used Dad’s)
4 cubes ice

Blend in a mixer for a min., until the ice is totally crushed, and garnish with a dried chillie when serving.
It was really good, with nice kick.
Be warned, if you are not used to hot stuff, go easy on the chillie paste.

Shreded green chillie omlete

Shreded green chillie omlete
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

Here is one way to make a shredded omelet, which ends up sort of like an egg kottu, without the roti, in a way.
And so this one is for indi and mahangu, who made kottu.org for us.

Recipe:

slice a bombay onion (thats a shallot like thingy), crush a clove of garlic, and chop three green chilies fine. and sauté all of it a tiny bit of olive oil.
remove the stuff from the skillet, when onions are transparent.
beat two eggs, until frothing, and add little water, two or thimbles, no more (not milk) – and beat again. season with a pinch of salt and peppr. Heat up the skillet again (I use cast iron dutch ovens) with a tiny bit of butter, this time, and pour in the beaten eggs. Wait as a soft pancake forms, break it gently several times with your spatula, letting the tears heal with the uncooked mixture. When its nearly all done add the previously sautéed stuff, and break it all up.

I like to garnish this with MD green chillie sauce, which is a marvoulous thing.

Garlic Round

Garlic Round
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

from the food series, soon, hopefully to be a staple on my blog. a crop is part of collage, in lentil yellow (see below)-- but this one is re-done with different white balance, and colour tone, and totally re-cropped, of course. seem quite cool. or hot.

Lentil Yellow (with a little red)

Lentils for Lunch
Originally uploaded by pradeep jeganathan.

and then i fixed it today for lunch. and here it is, with some before and afters. finally, a proper cooking photograph.

did some one say, '... and also cooking'?
okay, here goes:

Lentil Yellow (with a little red):
feeds one hungry critter only.

Cook the lentils in three times as much water (1 cup of lentils to three of water) add two or three heaped tablespoons of coconut milk powder, or if you prefer real coconut milk, reduce the water by a third, and replace with milk (that’s two cups of water and one of milk in this example). Add two pinches of turmeric and a little salt and cook, simmering for thirty minutes after bring to an initial boil.
Heat a little oil in a heavy pan, adding half a well chopped up bombay onion and three cloves of garlic, also crushed and copped fine, and big half pieces of red chili, to taste. In a few minutes when the onions are getting soft, and the cooked lentils, and other half of the onion, which should be just sliced. Keep folding it in, until the excess liquid dries out, and its nice and creamy, add a pat of butter and take off the heat. Pick out the pieces of red chillie, and garnish with new ones; fresh not dried, if you can get them. I couldn’t.
Its creamy, garlicky and buttery, and the second round of onions give it texture.

My dish today was way yummy. So there.