Sunday 23 June 2019

A feast of Serendib: Recipes from Sri Lanka by Mary Anne Mohanraj


Dark roasted curry powder, a fine attention to the balance of salty-sour-sweet, wholesome red rice and toasted curry leaves, plenty of coconut milk and chili heat. These are the flavors of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka was a cross roads in the sea routes of the East. Three waves of colonization—Portuguese, Dutch and British—and the Chinese laborers who came with them, left their culinary imprint on Sri Lankan food. Sri Lankan cooking with its many vegetarian dishes gives testimony to the presence of a multi-ethnic and multi -religious population.

Everyday classics like beef smoore and Jaffna crab curry are joined by luxurious feastdishes, such as nargisi kofta and green mango curry, once served to King Kasyapa in his 5th century sky palace of Sigiriya.


Vegetable dishes include cashew curry, jackfruit curry, asparagus poriyal, tempered lentils, broccoli varai and lime-masala mushrooms. There are appetizers of chili-mango cashews, prawn lentil patties, fried mutton rolls, and ribbon tea sandwiches. Deviled chili eggs bring the heat, yet ginger-garlic chicken is mild enough for a small child. Desserts include Sri Lankan favorites:  love cake, mango fluff, milk toffee and vattalappam, a richly-spiced coconut custard.

When this turned up for me to review, I was so excited! I love cooking and Indian food, so I was keen to try Sri Lankan food. 

Unfortunately my first impressions of this book weren't great. I don't know if it was because I was sent an advanced copy to review but all the recipes inside the book are in black and white. Now this wouldn't normally matter, but when you have a cook book, this is an important part of the book. The images there are to entice you to read it and want to cook that particular meal. 

Another thing I didn't like about the book, (again it could be due to me having an advanced copy) was that there are many different fonts in the book and there are many text boxes in it. 

There are so many recipes in this book and right at the beginning of the of the book, these are broken down into sections such as starters, meats/fish, vegetables, sides and even drinks. You won't be pushed to find a recipe you want to try! 

I also like the background information we are given at the beginning of the book, a bit about the author but also about Sri Lankan cooking. There is also information on a lot of the spices used in the recipes, which explains what they are and when they are used. 

The recipes are laid out well to make them easy to follow and have all the ingredients listed that you will need. 

Overall it is a nice cookery book, it would have been so much better had it of been in colour and the fonts/layouts inside corrected. As I said previously though this could just be because I was given an advanced copy. I do hope it is! 

I would like to thank the publisher/author for sending this in exchange for an honest review. 


No comments:

Post a Comment