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Please visit my website at
www.jinisethnicgourmet.com
You will find more wonderful recipes there to try out tonight!
Delta School Board Classes
INDIAN COOKING SERIES
Delta Secondary School - Ladner
- North Indian : January 22, 2007
- Street Food or Tappas: February 5, 2007
If you miss these classes, no worries .. just email Jini to schedule a group class for your family or friends. Its fun, informative and you are guaranteed a memorable culinary experience and an awesome meal!
Please visit here for course descriptions on Jini's private classes offered.
Coming in the Spring: “Around the Culinary World in 5 Weeks”
- Mediterranean cooking, starts March 26
- Mexican cooking, starts April 2
- Indonesian cooking, starts April 16
- Sri Lankan cooking, starts April 23
- Thai cooking, starts April 30
To register, phone Delta School Board at 604-940-5550 or register on-line at www.deltasd.bc.ca and click on Continuing Education courses – Arts & crafts– Around the Home.
Looking for a unique Birthday, Anniversary or Valentine's Day gift?
Gift Certificates from Jini's Ethnic Gourmet are always a welcome treat!
They can be used in a Gift Basket with spices and goodies, or cashed for a cooking class or catering for a special event such as birthday, anniversary, romantic evening or just a fun girls' night out!
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Bits & Bites from Jini
Here's wishing you a wonderful New Year with blessings for health, wealth and joy!
Dear {FIRST_NAME},
The start of a New Year is so exciting and so full of promise - making our dreams a reality and also giving us a chance to weave new dreams into our current reality!
Looking back at 2005 & 2006, (as the world’s greatest procrastinator), I did learn some powerful lessons that I like to humbly share with you. Perhaps my story will motivate you to follow your own dreams!
For many years, being an avid “foodie”, I had a secret dream to gather all my recipes that I had collected over the years and compile a cookbook. This was a gigantic task that I viewed as difficult and kept postponing!
But sometimes, good things spring from terrible catastrophes and when the Tsunami struck in 2004, an urgent need to raise money propelled me to get going with the cook book idea so that the proceeds can go towards helping the victims. I wanted to contribute $3,500 towards the cost of one house from cook book sales and I did it!
Fortunately, I had many mentors who advised and encouraged me to keep my focus on the goal, but break it down into smaller measurable steps ...so that when each step was achieved, I felt rewarded and was magically moved forward to the next. My goal also gained greater momentum and meaning, as I projected my own dream of doing a cook book, on to a far greater and nobler cause!
So the moral of the story is that we can all achieve our dreams, if we break them down in to measurable goals with a time-line, and keep moving towards our target. It is so important to get rid of self-defeating and limiting ideas such as lack of time, money and freedom to do what you want. Examine the real reasons like fear of success, fear of change within your own heart.
My challenge to you for 2007 – make your dream come true! Define your own ‘success’ and give it a try! I will be happy to be your cheer leader!
"Goals are not only absolutely necessary to motivate us. They are essential to really keep us alive."
Robert H. Schuller
January 13th Sri Lankan Evening in Ladner - a sold out event!
 A big thank you to all of you who gathered to make this event a huge success far beyond my expectations, and the capacity of the hall!
We had well over 100 people. Thank you to all of you who gave generously by way of donations or volunteered your time. I hope you enjoyed the food, the music and the company, and more than ever in knowing that your contributions will make a huge difference in someone's life!
 Thanks to your kindness, I reached my goal and donated $3,500 towards one house, and I am well on the way to contributing to a second house in Sri Lanka, to the Village Assist Project of building 100 homes! I hope one day, you too can venture down there to see these people smile with joy...
See the Habitat House Plan for the proposed Housing Units to be built in Kinniya, Sri Lanka.
The Virtues of Curry
When you have a headache, would you rather enjoy a delicious spicy meal or settle for a sour-tasting aspirin?
For those of you who enjoyed the spices in the Sri Lankan dinner… here’s some great news to make you come back for more!
A recent Scottish study has found that salicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin, occurs naturally in Indian food and that curry could help treat migraines and prevent colon cancers.
Spices such as cumin, turmeric and paprika, all of which are used in curries, are particularly rich sources of salicylic acid, the study said.
Neither does Indian food cause the side-effects associated with long-term aspirin use, such as internal bleeding and ulcers, the study, conducted by the Rowett Research Institute, found.
"One portion of vindaloo we examined contained 95mg of salicylic acid, more than the amount in an aspirin tablet. A low-dose aspirin tablet contains about 65mg of the acid."
Curcumin, the component of turmeric that gives curry its distinctive yellow colour, is primarily responsible for its healthy effect.
Regular aspirin also prevents colon cancer because of its apparent ability to reduce the inflammation that occurs during a tumour's development.
So watch out for more curry recipes... and learn how to make it yourself!
Here are some recipes from the Sri Lankan dinner to try at home. Bon Appetit!
Sri Lankan Cooking
Sri Lankan food is a blend of many cultures and cuisines: Sinhalese, Tamil, Moslem, Portuguese, Dutch and English. Sri Lankans love hot and spicy foods, but they can be toned down by reducing the quantity of chilies in the recipes, and the sweetness of the coconut milk used in the sauces.
Serving suggestions:
For an exotic flair, these dishes can be attractively served on a banana leaf – with rice in the center surrounded by an assortment of curries, boiled eggs, sambals and chutneys.
Alternatively, the rice can be packaged securely in a banana leaf along with the curries and sambals, and baked in an oven at 350º F for about 30 minutes before serving; the aroma will be incredible! (These rice packets are called “Lamprais” and are excellent for picnics or any outdoor parties where individual servings can be handed out to each person for convenience)
Recipes
| Yellow Rice |
Yellow rice is a festive dish usually served on special occasions accompanied by chicken curry or fish curry and a variety of vegetable dishes and relishes such as Hot eggplant salad and cucumber salad.
2 cups "samba" rice or Basmati rice
2 T. ghee or clarified butter
3-4 shallots, minced
3 slices ginger, crushed
1 t. black peppercorns
4-5 cardamoms, crushed
4-5 cloves
2" cinnamon
1 spring, curry leaves
1 piece Rampe* leaf
1/2 cup coconut milk
3 1/2 cups water
1/4 t. turmeric
Salt to taste
Garnish:
1 t. ghee
2 T. raisins
2 T. cashews
Method:
- Wash rice and leave to drain.
- Heat ghee in a heavy bottom pan and sauté garlic, ginger, sliced onion, curry leaves and rampe leaf until fragrant, and the onions are translucent.
- Add the rice and stir until the grains are well coated with the ghee.
- Pour in the water and milk and add the turmeric, peppercorns and spices mixing lightly with a wooden spoon. Bring to a boil, and cook uncovered until the water recedes to the level of the rice. Then cover and cook on low heat until the grains are soft but not mushy.
- Fluff up rice with a fork lightly, and transfer rice to a platter.
- To garnish, sauté cashews and raisins slightly with a little ghee, and toss over rice.
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| Masoor Dhal |
1 cup red Masoor dhal
1 green chili chopped
1 small onion chopped
2” cinnamon stick
½ t. turmeric powder
Salt to taste
½ t. red chili powder
2 cups water
Seasoning:
4 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 t. mustard seeds
2 dry chilies cut into ½” pieces
1 sprig curry leaves
Method:
- Wash dhal well. Add green chili, onion, turmeric, and cinnamon stick.
- Boil dhal with the water in a pan, until the dhal is well cooked.
- Add thick coconut milk and cook for another 5-10 minutes. Transfer to a serving dish and keep warm.
- Heat oil in a pan and sauté garlic, mustard seeds, curry leaves and red chilies until fragrant. Pour on top of dhal.
Serve with rice.
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| Malay Chicken Curry |
This is my mom's special recipe and non one cooks it as well as she did! I always wondered whether her secret was in the specially blended curry powder ground on a real grinding stone, or was it in the clay pot placed over a hearth with hot coals.
1 lb chicken thighs, skinless
½ can coconut milk
½ cup water
Spices:
1 T. dark roasted curry powder
2 t. chili powder
½ t. turmeric
1 t. fennel ground
Seasoning:
2 T. shallots, chopped
3-4 cloves
½ t. cardamoms, crushed
3 cloves, garlic minced
2 slices ginger, minced
2” cinnamon
2” Rampa or Pandan leaves(optional)
1 sprig curry leaves
salt
Method:
- Mix spices with chicken and allow to rest for a few minutes. Then add water and cook over moderate heat for about 20 minutes until chicken is cooked.
- Heat oil in another pan and fry seasoning ingredients until fragrant. Then add chicken and sauté until pieces are slightly browned and well coated.
- Add coconut milk and cook uncovered until sauce is thickened. Adjust seasonings to taste adding more salt if required.
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| Spicy Coconut Salad(Pol Sambol) |
This is a popular condiment is a common accompaniment to any Sri Lankan meal, but is a must with string hoppers and Kiri Hodi(white coconut gravy).
Ingredients:
1 cup grated coconut(or dry coconut flakes re-hydrated with water)
¼ - cup finely chopped shallots
2 t. Maldive fish
1 – 2 t. chillie powder
Salt to taste
Juice of 1 lime
Method:
Place all ingredients in a food processor and grind until well blended.
Or place in a bowl and pound with a small bottle until all ingredients are well blended.
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If you have acquired a taste for these dishes, watch out for more recipes in my cook book "Ethnic Pleasures".
Don't forget that I am available for that special event you need catered or to have some friends over for a special cooking class!
Until next month... happy cooking!
Jini
jini@jinisethnicgourmet.com
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