Sri Lanka (Asia) 10 March 2024

Sri Lanka is located in the continent of Asia. It has the Indian Ocean to the north, east, south and west, with India located to the northwest.

The capitals are Colombo and Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte.

The official language are Sinhala and Tamil.

The climate is a tropical perennial high temperature. Monsoon season is from May to September in the Wet zone and from November to January in the Dry zone.

The staple foods are rice, roti, naan, vegetables, meat, fish, coconut milk, curry, rice flour noodles, pickles, chutney, cardamom, and so much more (https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/what-to-eat-and-drink-in-sri-lanka).

https://www.britannica.com/place/Sri-Lanka

SRI LANKAN SNAPPER CURRY WITH BASMATI RICE AND YOGHURT (https://www.gourmettraveller.com.au/recipes/fast-recipes/sri-lankan-snapper-curry-with-basmati-rice-and-yoghurt-9543):

• 50g (3.3 TBSP) ghee
• 20 fresh curry leaves, plus extra sprigs, to serve
• 5 cloves of garlic, sliced
• 10 red shallots, finely chopped
• 2 tsp ground turmeric
• 1 stick of cinnamon, halved
• 5 cardamom pods, lightly bruised
• 50g (1/3 C) Sri Lankan Curry Powder
• 1.5L fish stock
• 2 tsp fennel seeds, soaked in water for 10 minutes
• 1.2kg sweet potato, cut into 1cm pieces
• Two 375ml tins coconut cream
• 2-1/2 TBSP vegetable oil
• 6 snapper fillets, skin on and pin-boned

1. Heat ghee in a heavy-based saucepan and when a light haze comes over the pot, add curry leaves, garlic and shallots, and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes until shallots are translucent.
2. Add remaining dry ingredients and cook for 4 minutes, stirring continuously or until lightly toasted and fragrant.
3. Add stock and drained fennel seeds and bring to the boil.
4. Add sweet potato and simmer for 10 minutes or until just tender. Using a slotted spoon, transfer sweet potato to a tray.
5. Bring curry base to the boil, add coconut cream and bring to the boil, then remove from heat and season to taste with sea salt and ground black pepper.
6. Heat oil in a large, heavy-based frying pan over high heat, add snapper fillets, skin-side down, pressing to ensure skin is touching pan evenly.
7. Cook for 3-4 minutes, then turn and cook for another 3 minutes until just cooked through.
8. To serve, add sweet potato to curry sauce and cook until heated through, spoon rice into shallow bowls and top with snapper and a sprig of curry leaves.
9. Ladle curry sauce into individual small bowls and pass separately.
10. Serve immediately with small bowls of yoghurt, chutney and pickles, if using.

I could not find snapper, so I used grouper which worked and tasted great!! Love the curry flavors!!!

SRI LANKAN NAAN BREAD (https://www.infolanka.com/recipes/mess1/33.html):

• 3 C flour
• Plain yoghurt
• 1 tsp yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• Pinch of salt
• Ghee for frying

1. Add yeast and sugar to one cup of lukewarm water, mix well and set aside to rise for 10 minutes.
2. Add the salt, yeast mixture and the yoghurt to the flour and mix well.
3. Keep aside for 30 minutes to rise.
4. Make about 10-5 balls out of the flour dough.
5. Flatten them well and fry like you do with Roti.
6. Each side JUST one minute only.
7. With a brush apply a little ghee on both sides of the Naan while it is still hot.

You can see that my naan making skills need improvement, but they still tasted great!!!

SRI LANKAN EGGLESS CHOCOLATE BISCUIT PUDDING (https://www.theflavorbender.com/eggless-chocolate-biscuit-pudding/):

Chocolate Buttercream:

• 12oz. (350g) unsalted butter
• 12oz. – 14oz. (350g – 400g) confectioner’s sugar
• 2.5oz. (70g) sifted cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla
• ¼ tsp salt
• 3 TBSP brandy (or use ¼ C of cream only if not using alcohol)
• 1 TBSP cream

1. Place the butter, icing sugar and salt in a bowl and ix on low, until well combined.
2. Add the cocoa powder and mix again on low until mixed through. Then turn mixer to medium speed and mix until light and fluffy.
3. Add vanilla and brandy and mix again until well incorporated, and still soft and fluffy.

Milk Mixture:

• 1 C of warm milk, not hot
• 2 TBSP brandy
• 2 packets of Marie Biscuits (about 10oz. (280g)
• 8X4-inch bread loaf pan lined with plastic wrap

To decorate:

• Chopped roasted cashews
• Chocolate sauce

1. Spread a thin layer of chocolate buttercream on the bottom of your lined loaf pan (or any other dish that you are using with similar dimensions).
2. Add the milk and brandy to a separate bowl.
3. Then place a few cookies in the milk for no more than 3-5 seconds (the cookies should NOT be completely soaked through and disintegrate).
4. Place these cookies in a layer over the buttercream.
5. Spread another layer of chocolate buttercream, followed by the milky Maria cookies.
6. Repeat until you reach the top, and end with a layer of cookies (this layer should be well packed – and only if you are hoping to unmold the dessert before serving). There should be some leftover buttercream to decorate the outside of the cake.
7. Cover and let it chill in the fridge for at least 3 hours or overnight.
8. Optional – if you need to unmold your chocolate biscuit pudding, unmold it onto a serving platter and apply an extra layer of chocolate buttercream to smoothen the sides and top.
9. Drizzle with chocolate sauce and place some roasted and coarsely chopped cashews on top.
10. Cover and leave in the fridge until ready to serve.

I found the biscuits on Amazon. This turned out really good!!! Highly recommend!

Here is the overall meal! Delicious!!!