Few temptations could winkle me out of my own corner of England during a warm spring orhot summer. For onething, the exquisite tyranny of the fruit and veg plot demands so much of my time (I give it willingly, of course). And for another, I happen to think there are few more beautiful places on earth.
Try me in January or February, though, and I'm not waving my union flag quite so enthusiastically. In fact, I'm easily lured away by the romantic notion of tropical heat. And tropical fruits (in the widest sense of the word). This winter, we spent some time in Sri Lanka doing abit ofdiving, plenty of fishing and some very memorable eating.
This fertile island off the tip of India is home to some very fine foods – abundant fish, fragrant rice, spicy curries, a host of pickles, chutneys and sambals. And those fruits: mangoes, papayas, custard apples, jackfruit and the most luscious pineapples. And a dozen types of banana, including short, fat, lemony ones that I couldn't get enough of.
Centuries of trade and colonisation have left their mark onthe island's dining tables. An important stopping-off point on the east-west trade routes, its spices such as cinnamon, cloves and pepper were highly prized bounty. In return, it's believed the Arabs brought with them saffron, coffee and rosewater. The Portuguese – who colonised what was then Ceylon in the 16th century – introduced chillies, an ingredient for which anyone who has experienced the fierce, searing yet fragrant heat of many Sri Lankan dishes is inordinately grateful, evena little tearful.
During my time on the island, I was seduced by the variety, colour and intensely aromatic punch of the meals we enjoyed every day. Myperennial, go-to flavour favourites of garlic, ginger and chilli were joined by lemon grass, turmeric, cardamom, curry leaves and fenugreek. Eye-watering heat was tempered with sweet and cooling coconut milk andfreshened with lime juice.
And on the coconut milk front, Imake no apology for the fact that all today's recipes contain coconut in some form, no more than I would if Igave you three European recipes that featured chicken stock. A dash of coconut milk is used to finish so many Sri Lankan dishes, it would seem contrived to try to omit it.
So I returned home determined toreignite my passion for the spice drawer, tossing out anything that hadhung around for too long and stocking up on spanking new flavours. Many of the ingredients I'm using today are widely available, but if you have a problem tracking them down, try steenbergs.co.uk formail-order. And you can always have a go at growing your own lemon grass, coriander and chillies – they're all easy to cultivate in containers, even if you don't have alarge garden.
So this spring I'm getting exotic with the local and the home-grown, spicing up my greens from the garden with Sri Lankan flavours, tossing them with homemade curry powder, finishing them with a dash of coconut milk and dishing them up with improvised sambals. It's not an exercise in authenticity by any means, but by goodness it's delicious.
Spring onions and greens with coconut milk
A quick, simple side dish that you can vary according to the seasons – it's good now with spring onions and spring greens; later in the year,try it with leeks andkale or cabbage. Serves six.
2 tbsp groundnut oil
3 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced
2-3 bundles spring onions, trimmed and cut on a diagonal into 4cm slices
250g spring greens, shredded
1 tsp curry powder or curry paste
200ml coconut milk
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Warm the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat, then sweat the garlic for a couple of minutes, being careful not to let it burn. Add the onions and sauté for a couple of minutes, then add the greens and sweat down for three minutes or so, until wilted but stillslightly crunchy. Stir in the curry powder or paste, then add the coconut milk and simmer for five minutes. Season to taste and serve immediately.
Bream curry
It may seem a bit of a fiddle to make your own curry powder, but it's easy and very satisfying. The quantities here will make more than you'll need, but it keeps well, sealed in a jar in a cool, dark place, for a month or so. Use it in curries, certainly, but it's also good sprinkled over vegetables such as cubed aubergines or squash before roasting. Serves six.
For the curry powder
3 tbsp desiccated coconut
1 tbsp black peppercorns
½ tbsp fenugreek seeds
2 tbsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp fennel seeds
2 tbsp coriander seeds
10 curry leaves
For the fish
400ml coconut milk
2-3 fresh green chillies, roughlychopped
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ small cinnamon stick
½ tsp fenugreek, soaked in water for 15-30 minutes
10-12 fresh curry leaves
1 lemon grass stalk, white part only, thinly sliced
1 small onion, peeled and grated orvery finelychopped
1 tbsp Sri Lankan curry powder (orany good curry powder)
½ tsp ground turmeric
Good pinch soft light brown sugar
700g bream or gurnard fillets
To finish
Juice of a lime, a handful of coriander leaves, steamed rice
First make the curry powder. In asmall frying pan, dry fry the coconut until lightly browned, then set aside. Gently dry-fry the rest of the ingredients for four minutes, until fragrant. Tip the lot into a spice grinder or clean coffee mill (clean it by grinding a few cubes of stale bread, then tipping out the crumbs), then grind into a fine powder.
Pour the coconut milk and 250ml water into a large, wide saucepan along with everything but the bream. Bring to a simmer, and cook, stirring frequently, for five minutes or so. Add the fish, gently spoon over the liquid and simmer for another five minutes, until just cooked – don't stir or you will break up the fish; just rattle the pan gently from time to time. Remove from the heat and serve immediately with rice, lime wedges and coriander scattered over the top.
Coconut roti
These simple, tasty breads are delicious hot from the pan with curries and/or chutneys. Makes six.
300g plain flour
100g freshly grated coconut
3-4 green chillies, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
3 tbsp melted butter
1 ½ tsp salt
Butter, ghee or groundnut oil, forfrying
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, coconut, chillies, onion, butterand salt until everything iswell combined. Add enough watertocreate a slightly stiff dough– 150-180ml should be enough, then on afloured surface knead lightly and divide into six equally sized balls. Roll or pat these out into fairly thin round or oval shapes. Warm a frying pan over amedium-high heat and add a knobofbutter, ghee or asplash ofgroundnut oil. When thefat is fairly hot, fry the roti in batches forthree to four minutes aside, untilgolden. Serve at once.
