Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's SriLankan recipesOne family holiday was enough to leave our resident chef welland truly hooked on his very own spice odyssey

Hugh Fearnley-WhittingstallThe Guardian, Saturday 30 April 2011

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's spring onions and greens with coconut: Sri Lanka in a pan. Photograph: Colin Campbell

for the Guardian

Few temptations could winkle me out of my own corner of England during a warm

spring or hot summer. For one thing, 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 a bit of diving, 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 on the 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, even a 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. My perennial, 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 and freshened with lime juice.

And on the coconut milk front, I make no apology for the fact that all today's recipes

contain coconut in some form, no more than I would if I gave 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 to reignite my passion for the spice drawer, tossing out

anything that had hung 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 for mail-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 a large 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 and kale 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

still slightly 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

! 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, roughly chopped

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

! small cinnamon stick

! 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 or very finely chopped

1 tbsp Sri Lankan curry powder (or any good curry powder)

! 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 a small 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.

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Comments in chronological order (Total 3

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Travellerjim

30 April 2011 3:44AM

Mouthwatering cuisine indeed, I became hoplessly addicted to the particular blend of

roasted curry powders, chilli and coconut milk some 28 years ago now, I blame a Sri

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 ! tsp salt

Butter, ghee or groundnut oil, for frying

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, coconut, chillies, onion, butter and salt until

everything is well combined. Add enough water to create a slightly stiff dough – 150-

180ml should be enough, then on a floured 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 a medium-high heat and add a knob of butter, ghee or a splash

of groundnut oil. When the fat is fairly hot, fry the roti in batches for three to four

minutes a side, until golden. Serve at once.

• Learn new skills on River Cottage's four-day cookery courses; rivercottage.net for

details.

Lankan girlfriend from that time.

A pity though that Hugh could not have featured one of Sri Lanka's two tastiest 'breads'

to my palate at least, either the heavenly, light, spongy, lacy 'hopper' or the more

substantial 'godamba' roti. Possibly they were not mentioned as they require either a

'hopper pan' or a large hot plate to prepare them. I do miss them when away from Sri

Lanka.....

The spring onions and greens with coconut milk recipe sounds a little like a 'malung', a

classic Sri Lankan side dish?

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JSzepietowski

30 April 2011 6:57AM

I had a meal that will rival any meal by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, in a tiny part of

Surrey. I like spicy food, but I have finally discovered an oasis of flavour and taste, 5 star

cuisine in the Massala Cobham, Surrey.

I always thought that spicy food had to be just that, so I was surprised at the fantastic

explosion of aroma and taste.

Hugh may be on television, knocking up the odd meal and saving the odd chicken, but

to produce consistently high quality food for the public, day after day week after week is

an art all in itself.

John Szepietowski

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davidabsalom

30 April 2011 7:30AM

This winter, we spent some time in Sri Lanka doing a bit of diving, plenty of fishing and

some very memorable eating.

There goes your carbon footprint share for the next decade or so.

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