Cooking with Amma (1)

I went to Melbourne this weekend to catch up with friends and was generously hosted by my wonderful friend Papaya and her family. They are a real interesting and eclectic lot, having lived in Japan (her oldest sister could only speak Japanese when they left!), the US, Samoa and New Zealand before finally settling in Australia.

In my own words I shamelessly invited myself to their place to stuff myself with Lankan home cooking, but I really didn't anticipate how much I would learn about how to cook these dishes! A few simple ingredients put together well can be incredibly tasty. Amma uses no measurements and everything is done to taste (you like this a little more? add more!) I took a few notes on scrap paper and really want to capture how to make this delicious food.

HOPPERS

Hoppers are way easier to make than I imagined. The essential piece of equipment is the hopper pan, a deep concave pan with two handles for optimal swirling

The batter is made of

Rice flour

Coconut cream

(Water if too thick)

Yeast and a little sugar

Mix till it is a thick batter. Leave to ferment till loose and puffy (5hrs or overnight is good)

At the end add some salt, as the fermentation will be affected if salt is added too early

Once it is a thick liquid (a little thinner than pancake batter) with many bubbles, it is ready to be used.

Grease the hopper pan with a little paper towel dipped in butter or excess

Add a generous blob to the bottom of the pan and swirl to coat the sides

(The right amount of batter to add leaves a small residual amount to bubble up at the bottom )

Add the lid and wait patiently. Once it becomes crispy & golden around the edges, it will lift away easily

Serve warm with sambal or any other curries 

Tips from Amma:

Freshly ground rice is delicious, especially red rice but any rice flour can be used

Wait for the batter to be ready… it will depend on the activity of the yeast but don’t start before it is bubbly

Excess batter can be stored in the fridge for instant hopper making

If using a non stick hopper pan cool the pan down by taking it off the stove or dip it in cold water, as the dough will not stick to the sides if it is too hot

If making an egg hopper crack an egg in the pan as soon as the swirling action is done

Amma gave me a hopper pan to take home (talk about the Sri Lankan hospitality!).. I really can’t wait to try this with sourdough!

SAMBAL

This is one of the most popular Lankan side dishes that is absolutely refreshing, uplifting and delicious.

Add to a mortar & pestle

-        Very finely chopped red onion (or any onion)

-        Chilli flakes

-        Maldive fish flakes (apparently a Lankan staple)

-        Freshly grated coconut for coconut sambal (can be bought frozen and defrosted before use)

Pound until a coarse paste forms

Remove from the mortar & pestle. Add salt & lemon juice to taste.

(Apparently this can also be done in a food processor but the pounding action really integrates the flavours well)

STRING HOPPERS

These were quite easy to make too… but sadly I don't think I will ever have the right string hopper paraphernalia 

Mix “string hopper flour” with water until a firm dough forms

(You want the dough to be firm but not too firm or it will be too hard to press through)

Take the hopper maker (looks like a giant garlic press) and load some dough into it

Press the trigger (extremely stress relieving) and do two big circles of the noodles covering the steamer

Steam for 3 minutes or so till cooked and easily dislodged from the steamer

KIRI HODI

This is a very simple yellow coconut cream gravy that goes with string hoppers

Heat coconut cream in a small pot along with pandan leaves, turmeric and ground fenugreek

MILK RICE

Cook rice and coconut cream together till well cooked and bordering on mushy

Tip out into a roasting dish and use the rice scraper to smooth the top pressing the rice down

Leave to cool for a few minutes then slice into squares

You can top each square with a raisin or eat it as is with sambal & curry