lori,
the pickle recipe sounded complicated but i’ll make some for you. when it stops snowing every saturday, i will come to DC and we’ll get supplies and cook together. in the meantime, my mom/your twin sent me a sri lankan recipe that looks super good, super healthy, super quick, and moderately easy.
Dal
1. Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a skillet. (Corn oil is fine, but Sri Lankan homes use coconut.)
2. Add ½ red onion and a few garlic cloves and saute for a few minutes.
3. Add 1 c. soaked red lentils (lori: available in the bulk section in whole foods), 1½ small green chilies, 1 tbsp. each turmeric and curry powder, a sprinkling of red pepper flakes, and saute a few minutes.
4. Add enough coconut milk (lori: if you want to be a bit healthier, but less flavorful, you can use light coconut milk. the smell and taste of regular coconut milk is way better, though…) to cover and simmer for about ten minutes, then increase flame to cook at a rolling boil for a few more minutes. Add a little more coconut milk to get the sauce level to your liking and finish with salt.
accompanied with: Onion-Chili Sambol
1. Heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil in a skillet and add one finely sliced red onion (the smallest you can find) along with 1 tbsp. tamarind paste and 1 tbsp. chopped pandan leaf. (lori: pandan! i dont know. it’s a thai leaf, see if you can get it. its purpose is aroma/color so you can probably leave it out. not a substitute, really, but try a bay leaf instead?)
2. Lower flame and add as much finely chopped chili as your mouth can handle.
3. Simmer for about ten minutes, then add ¼ c. sugar to brown. Add salt at the end.
You can serve the onion-chili sambol with the lentils, or anything! the original recipe suggests adding it to grilled cheese which sounds amazing. it would probably be really good in an omelet or with breakfast potatoes, too.
