cohlinn

Originally published at Growing Fins. Please leave any comments there.

These will be the first pics I’ve edited on my new computer, the reason why I’m cooking more and trying to make my groceries stretch to the end of the week. I’m loving having a proper CPU again as opposed to a laptop, though. The first picture is Thakkali Pal curry, a Sri Lankan Tamil dish made with potatoes, tomatoes, curry leaves, coriander, freshly squeezed lime or lemon, and coconut milk. Suitable for vegans, and one of my favourite comfort foods because my Sri Lankan grandmother used to make it for me when I was a kid.

Instructions for foodies: Dice big onion, chop garlic and ginger. Boil potatoes (diced or roughly chopped). Chop tomatoes (2). Heat oil in pan. Add panch puran and wait for it to pop. Crumble in curry leaves, add onion/garlic/ginger. Add tomatoes. Chop the stem part of coriander leaves (because it has that coriander flavour but isn’t as strong) and stir it in. Slowly add some of the water you used to boil the potatoes. Let the tomatoes, herbs and spices simmer for a bit so that the flavours get infused, then squeeze in lemon or lime. Lovingly sprinkle in half a teaspoon to one teaspoon of turmeric powder. Before turning off the fire, pour in some of the coconut milk/cream. Crush fresh curry leaves in your hand and drop them on top if you have them.

The second dish is definitely not vegan, since it’s Sri Lankan Fish Croquettes, which I made with a small tin of lite tuna and a handful of mashed potato. I boiled enough potatoes for both dishes, around three small potatoes for me.

Finally, I was going to post this as an example of a failed dish since I used the green and bitter part of the cabbage by accident, but it turned out to be quite nice after I added water and cooked it long enough that the bits of the cabbages and the onion actually caramelized. All in all, a good, and much needed Tamil dinner.

Other posts related to Indian food:

Diasporic Variations for Diwali Evening
Pilau Rice and Kozhi Milag Peratal
Sri Lankan Comfort Food (Recipe for the Fish Croquettes)
Meen Kulambu with Bendi
Lamb Rogan Josh and Tomato Rice

Originally published at Growing Fins. Please leave any comments there.

Anyone obsessed with the phenomenology of time would be obsessed with rhythm, I suppose. Well, that’s what I feel, at least. Jay Dabgar’s hands and tabla. I kind of feel bad. I didn’t get enough good shots of his face, I was a bit obsessed with the tabla playing and trying to follow what he was doing. Never thought rhythm could sound that fluid!