In the Nineteen Nineties, my cousin Sri Anna was a senior Sri Lankan policeman. Surprisingly for us, visiting from England, that meant he bought a driver, a gun, a pleasant pad to stay in and a workforce of sensational cooks to dish up varied delicacies from wherever he was stationed. Within the south, his favorite was black pork curry, and at my restaurant Rambutan we now make a marinade from comparable spices for pineapple, beef and, my desire, hen, earlier than we grill it over coals. To raise it a bit of, the chook is completed with a fast aromatic oil of tempered spices and parsley (just like the peppery island herb we name vallarai). You possibly can eat it with or with out the cool, inexperienced coconut rice and tomato sambol, which is my try and recreate a really tasty lunch I had at one in all my favorite Colombo spots, Style of Asia.
Inexperienced coconut rice with tomato and purple onion sambol
Aromatic with spices, cooked in coconut milk and with a grassy, contemporary style from the greens, this rice could be very fast and straightforward, and excellent with the citrussy, tomato sambol that you just discover all around the island.
Prep 10 min
Prepare dinner 40 min
Serves 4
For the rice
50g spinach, washed
15g contemporary coriander, washed
2½cm piece contemporary root ginger, peeled
2 garlic cloves, peeled
250g white rice
25g salted butter
3 inexperienced cardamom pods, gently crushed
5 black peppercorns
150ml coconut milk
2 tsp salt
For the sambol
1 giant ripe tomato, reduce into 10-12 wedges
½ giant purple onion, peeled and finely sliced
1-2 inexperienced finger chillies, finely sliced, or to style
2 limes
1 tsp salt, to style
1 tbsp coconut oil, or impartial oil
Put the spinach, coriander, ginger and garlic in a small blender or meals processor, and blitz to a clean paste – you need all of the fibres to interrupt down, so you could want so as to add a splash of water to assist issues alongside.
Put the rice in a fine-meshed strainer and rinse underneath chilly working water for a couple of minute, till the water runs largely clear (this helps take away any floor starch, so the grains will probably be fluffy and separate when cooked). Depart the rice to empty.
Soften the butter in a medium-sized pan on a medium warmth, then add the cardamom and black peppercorns and cook dinner on a low warmth for a minute or two – the spices ought to flip aromatic and begin to sizzle barely, however the butter shouldn’t be browned.
Stir the washed rice and blended greens into the butter, then pour within the coconut milk, salt and 300ml water, and produce to a boil. Flip all the way down to a low simmer, cowl and cook dinner for 17-20 minutes, till the rice is cooked by means of and has absorbed all of the liquid; stir often to stop sticking. As soon as the rice is cooked, flip off the warmth and go away lined to maintain heat when you make the sambol.
In a bowl, mix the tomato, purple onion and inexperienced chilli. Season with lime juice, salt and oil, then style and add extra salt if want be. Combine nicely, ensuring to interrupt up the onion slices.
To assemble the dish, unfold the rice over a big platter. Spoon some sambol over a few of the rice, put the remainder in a bowl to the aspect and serve.
Black hen with tempered parsley
Prep 15 min
Marinade 2 hr+
Prepare dinner 1 hr 15 min
Serves 4
For the black spice combine
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp fennel seeds
2 tsp black peppercorns
1 stick cinnamon
1 tsp cardamom seeds
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
1 tsp cloves seeds
2 tsp chilli powder
For the hen
1 giant entire hen (about 1½-2kg)
4 tbsp black spice combine (see above and methodology)
1 head garlic, cloves separated and peeled
1 handful curry leaves, contemporary, ideally
120ml cider vinegar
1 tbsp salt
3 giant purple onions, peeled and reduce into wedges
3 sticks lemongrass
For the mood
100ml coconut oil, or impartial cooking oil
½ tbsp mustard seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
¼ tsp fennel seeds
4-5 contemporary curry leaves
½ bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 shallot, peeled and finely diced
2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely diced
2 tsp cider vinegar
Salt, to style
Roast all the entire spices for the spice combine (ie, the whole lot bar the chilli powder) in a dry frying pan on a low to medium warmth, stirring typically, for 5 minutes, till they scent aromatic. Take off the warmth, go away to chill, then tip right into a spice grinder or mortar and blitz or grind to a effective powder. Put the powder again within the dry pan and toast on a excessive warmth, stirring continually, for a minute or two, till it turns darkish brown and nearly black in color; this can flip them nutty and nearly smoky. Take off the warmth, go away to chill utterly, then stir within the chilli powder. Retailer in a clear sealed jar and use inside two months.
Flip the hen breast aspect down, use kitchen scissors to chop all the best way alongside both sides of the spine, then raise it out and discard (or save for inventory). Flip the chook over so it’s now breast aspect up, then press down with the palm of your hand to flatten and spatchcock it.
For the marinade, combine 4 tablespoons of the black spice combine in a roasting tray with the peeled garlic, curry leaves, vinegar, salt and purple onions. Rub this combination all around the chook, ensuring you get it into all of the crevices and underneath the pores and skin, then cowl and put within the fridge to marinade for 2 hours or in a single day.
Take the hen out of the fridge at the very least half an hour earlier than you need to cook dinner it. Calmly bash the lemongrass stalks, so that they scent aromatic.
To barbecue the chook, lay it pores and skin aspect down over medium-heat coals, put the lemongrass on prime, then cowl with foil. After 20 minutes, uncover and grill for 20 minutes extra, till the pores and skin crisps up and the hen is cooked by means of but juicy – if in case you have a probe, it ought to have an inner temperature of 70C. Alternatively, cowl and roast in an 200C (180C fan)/390F/fuel 6 oven for about 40 minutes, once more topped with the lemongrass, till the juices run clear.
Put the hen to 1 aspect to relaxation for 10 minutes. In the meantime, make the fast tempered oil. Put the oil in a small pan on a medium warmth and, as soon as it’s sizzling, add the mustard seeds and cook dinner for 20 seconds, till they begin to pop a bit of (watch out to not burn them, although). Flip down the warmth, add the cumin and fennel seeds, and cook dinner for 30 or so seconds, till aromatic. Tip right into a bowl, stir within the curry leaves and go away to chill to heat. Stir the parsley, shallot, garlic and vinegar into the cooled mood, then season to style.
Carve the hen, organize on a platter, costume with the parsley mood and serve.