Me and this dish had a falling out some years ago. Twice a year the Sri Lankan Buddhist community in Sydney would throw a food fair to help raise money for the temple. Groups of people would host stalls serving traditional Sri Lankan fare; string hoppers, roti, koththu etc. The hopper stall was…
Cashew Nut (Cadju) Curry
Did I ever tell you guys about the great cashew caper? It was the day our cousin Ruvi and he husband Pesh were leaving Sri Lanka and after a lovely lunch we headed to ODEL to buy some devilled cashews. We left a sleeping baby and the husbands in the car and went inside to…
Loku Amma’s Chilli Chicken
This recipe is a family favourite. Something my mother’s older sister (Loku Amma) makes for us whenever we visit. She’s an amazing cook just like my mum and serves this chicken with yellow rice, eggplant pickle and potato curry. The day we cooked this we were cooking for guests. This means a thorough cleaning of…
Brown Sugar Swiss Meringue Buttercream
The Aussie blogger, Not Quite Nigella once commented that most people have a celebrity cook or chef who’s recipes never work for them. She remarked that Karen Martini’s recipe always flopped for her. For me, that cook was always Martha Stewart. Living in Australia I thought her recipes would be foolproof, her shows were staged in…
Black Pork Curry
A black pork curry is a quintessentially Sri Lankan dish. I’ve never tasted anything quite like it anywhere else in the world. The black comes from pepper, very dark roasted curry powder and either tamarind or goraka (another similar souring agent). During our recent holiday, my cousin Ruvi commented that while spending time with her…
Cranberry Orange Loaf with a Crumble Topping
Here’s something ironic. I write a food recipe blog and I have trouble following recipes. I’m forever substituting, deleting, thinking I know better and generally being a know-it-all. Mr Firehouse is always commenting on this fact. Recently he spied me working in the kitchen, pen and paper in hand. He wanted to know what I…
Mustard Carrot Curry
I was speaking to a friend recently who cooked a curry for dinner and commented on the thousand and one ingredients. While she enjoyed the curry she was lamenting the fact that cooking curry from scratch is time consuming and requires a multitude of often expensive ingredients that will go off in a cupboard before…
Brussel Sprouts Mallum
Brussel sprouts and I have a pretty good relationship, thanks mainly to this dish. I didn’t suffer the overboiled, over cooked, covered-in-cheese-to-hide-the-taste brussel sprouts growing up. My mum discovered brussel sprouts late in life (I don’t think they exist in Sri Lanka) and so did what any Sri Lankan would do, make a mallum. A…
Bourke St Bakery Style Sausage Rolls
A friend recently asked my what traditional ‘Aussie’ food was and my immediate reply was meat pies and sausage rolls. I don’t know that they’re uniquely Australian, the English eat pies after all. But to me, pies and sausage rolls speak of Australia. Hot pies in metal cases streaming out of the canteen, eating…
“Pancakes” and Pani Pol
Afternoon tea is just about my favourite time of the day. Sitting down to a hot cup of milky, black tea accompanied by something sweet or some cheese and biccies (crackers). This Sunday just gone I told Mr Firehouse that I had a real hankering for Sri Lankan style pancakes with their sweet coconut filling….
akkis kitchen 