Hi all,
Every Sunday myself & my fiancé have this tradition where we cook together.
It goes like this – I teach him different types of recipes, he eats it and.. to be honest I’m not too sure how much he takes from these lessons but at least he enjoys the food at the end and …possibly my company..also he is meant to be the one telling me what he wants to learn and then we can cook it, but so far since the tradition he maybe said once what he wants to cook, any other time I have to come up with some dishes 🤨🙄 is that not just a typical thing huh?
So today we traveled all the way to small island nation of Sri Lanka just a south of India. (the place id love to visit) tbh I feel quite weird making their food since I’ve never really tried the proper Sri Lankan food, however I hope I can at least make it try and taste similar to the real deal.. hopefully one day I will be able to try proper local Sri Lankan dishes.
Just for your own information Sri Lankan’s dishes are mostly mix of different types of Indian dishes, and luckily I did have a chance to try some proper Indian dishes – all I can say Indian dishes are full of rich & colourful .. yes colourful flavours. I can guarantee you that this recipe is the same! So go on and read the recipe below 👇🏼
By the way the dish turns out is finger licking
As for Peshawari naans bread, I personally prefer making just the usual naan bread but my fiancé prefer that one. I made peshwari naan before only once, and the ” normal” one more than few times. From what he told me he really liked my peshwari naans (apparently always better than the bought ones :p)
My secret to a lot of baked/dough recipes is that I always give more of creamy ingredients than there is meant to be, like( butter, milk, yoghurt etc) so it doesn’t make it dry but instead turns out nice soft, light and moist. And also lasts for days rather than just one day.
Ingredients for Sri Lankan chicken curry (2 servings) :-
- 2 tablespoons medium curry powder ( depending how hot you like it)
- 1 tsb ground cinnamon
- 1/4 ground ginger
- 2 tablespoons garam masala
- 4 boneless chicken thighs
- 400ml tin of coconut milk
- 1 Chili dried
- 2 garlic gloves
- 1 onion
- 1 tomato
- 1 tablespoons tomato paste
- Squeeze lemon juice
- Brown sugar
- 4 cardamom pods
- 4 cloves
- 3 tablespoons coriander seeds
- 1 teaspoons fennel seeds
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 tablespoons cumin seeds
Ingredients for peshwari naan bread (serves 8) :-
- Handful of sultans
- Handful of pistachios
- 2 1/2 cup flour
- 1 sachet of dried yeast
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup natural yoghurt
- 1/4 cup oil
Method for Sri Lankan chicken curry :-
Seems like a lot of ingredients and a lot of cooking but in all honesty it’s not that bad, just a little bit of preparing and it’s all nice and easy 🙂
- I marinated the chicken with curry paste, fresh pepper, Tahini paste ( however that is not required)
- If you don’t have time to marinate, Heat all the spices in a dry pan for 1-2 minutes until aromatic. Place in a grinder and grind to a fine powder
- Fry the oil in a large saucepan add the fresh curry leaves and fry for 1 minute. Then add the onions and cook for 4-5 minutes until lightly browned and soft.
- Add the chicken pieces and cook for 5 minutes, stirring in the powder you have made eallier. Add cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, tomato paste and 250ml warm water, mix very well, then cover and cook on a low heat for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Stir in the coconut milk, bring to the boil then reduce the heat and cook for a further 15 minutes stirring occasionally, add the sugar and taste for salt.
- Serve with some steamed rice (add cardomon seeds to your rice while steaming)
- Serves about 4 people. Add as much or as little chilli as you can stand. I like it hotter – but if you have guests that dont – use less.
Method for Naans :-
Mix the flour, yeast and salt in a large bowl. Stir in the yoghurt and enough water to mix to a soft dough and add oil . Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 mins until smooth and elastic.
Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean tea towel. Leave in a warm place for about 1 ½- 2 ½ hrs or until the dough has doubled in size.
While the dough is rising, place the filling ingredients in a food processor and blend until you achieve a paste
Preheat the oven to 220°C. Place a heavy-duty baking sheet in the oven to heat up.
Divide the dough into 6 pieces and roll each out to a circle. Place a spoonful of the filling in the centre of each circle then pull the edges together to enclose the filling and pinch tightly to seal. Shape into a ball then roll each ball out to a thin oval shape.
place the naans on the hot baking sheet and bake for 7-8 mins until puffy and with brown spots in places..
Don’t taste it... Just eat it! 