Written by husband and wife team Prakash Sivanathan and Niranjala Ellawala, the book shows their knowledge of and passion for the cuisine of their former homeland:
“My wife and I have lived in London for many years, but I was born a Tamil in the Jaffna peninsula in the north of Sri Lanka, and Niranjala is a Sinhalese from the south. Between us, we have a deep understanding and love of the unique styles of cooking that together make up our island’s cuisine. We hope this provides a record of Sri Lankan history and diversity for generations to come.”
One thing I must say is that this probably isn't a book for novice cooks as the ingredients lists tend to be longer/more exotic and some of the recipes are a little more complicated than other books I've reviewed. You also need to be fan of coconut/coconut milk as similar to Thai food, these feature heavily. Having said that, if you already have a well-stocked spice rack and are used to cooking Indian or Thai food, I'm sure you'll love this book.
I also need to point out that this is not an exclusively vegetarian book, but as Sri Lankan food is naturally vegetarian-friendly, many of the recipes are either vegetarian, pescatarian or easy to adapt. All of the recipes are marked as to their suitability for vegetarians, but I did notice a few non-vegetarian (fish-derived) ingredients in some of these. They are easy to omit though, without losing any the authentic flavour of the dishes.
I've only tried out a few of the recipes so far, but I particularly liked the pol roti (spicy, coconut flatbreads) and poosanikai kari (pumpkin curry), both of which were fairly easy to make, but tasted very different to the Indian-style food I often cook.
SRI LANKA: THE COOKBOOK is published by Frances Lincoln, 6th May 2017, RRP £20.00
Also available from Amazon and other book shops.
I like adding mustard seeds as a spice to hot things up :) x
ReplyDeletei would say smoked paprika
ReplyDeleteChilli powder
ReplyDeleteI put garlic in everything, but I love tumeric for color and taste
ReplyDeletegarlic as it is so easy to incorporate in every dish
ReplyDeleteSmoked paprika for me! x
ReplyDeleteCumin seeds.
ReplyDeleteOh I am so jealous you got to review this cookbook. I love Sri Lankan cuisine and have been looking for a honest down to earth homely cookbook. Fingers crossed x
paprika
ReplyDeleteGinger - brilliant in both sweet and savoury
ReplyDeletemine is cinnamon
ReplyDeleteMine has to be cinnamon
ReplyDeletegarlic!
ReplyDeleteI love cumin too, that smell when you lightly toast the seeds, just divine. This looks really interesting, I know nothing about Sri Lankan food at all.
ReplyDeleteCinnamon, lovely in sweet and savoury
ReplyDeleteToss up for me between ginger and cinnamon :) Probably ginger
ReplyDeleteI love cooking Indian food and use a lot of garam masala as it has lots of my favourite things in :)
ReplyDeleteCumin or ginger
ReplyDeletePaprika! I chuck it in with everything!
ReplyDeleteGinger and garlic are my favourite s like black pepper though
ReplyDeleteI use mild chilli powder in everything!!
ReplyDeleteWe love cinnamon as it takes back to when we whent to the USA for a long time.
ReplyDeletewe love ginger, we use it in Indian and Oriental savoury dishes and in desserts
ReplyDeleteSmoked Paprika :)
ReplyDeleteI love, love, love star anise
ReplyDeleteCinmamon - lovely in sweet and savoury
ReplyDelete