Yes this Sunday was a lovely relaxing day and well needed I must add as the dreaded lurgy going around come to visit me in the form of a cold 😦 Anyway one must keep going and chill as much as possible in between projects. This week I wanted to recreate a Rice Noodle Dish my mum made which was always served with a meat curry and I can taste it now – not so keen on the meat side of things though!

Well I couldn’t get a hold of her to get her recipe, so I called on the help of another Sri Lankan I see everyday – my daughters teacher Ms S. She called it a stringhopper pilau – I found a recipe in Charmaine Solomon’s book of Asian Food – this is an encyclopaedia of cooking Asian dishes, such a great book that I should be referring to more often!

Well here it is with a couple of modifications as I was missing ingredients and had to cheat a bit on the curry by using a Jalfrezi simmer sauce which was delicious with sauteed seitan.

Mock-Stringhopper Pilau

Little quarters of egg on top add another element of flavour

227g/8oz rice noodles (I used Annie Chun’s Maifun Brown Rice noodles)
sesame oil

60g/2 oz butter
2 tablespoons oil
1 brown onion, finely sliced
curry leaves
1/2 teaspoon saffron strands
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
1 1/2 teaspoons salt or to taste
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 egg, hard-boiled peeled and quartered (should be 4)
90g/3 oz raw cashews fried until golden
1 carrot, grated
1 cup cooked and drained peas
1/2 cup sultanas, soaked in water

1. Boil rice vermicelli noodles for 2-4 mins till tender and save for later put some sesame oil to keep them from sticking together.

2. In a large skillet heat butter and oil Fry the sliced onions and curry leaves, until onion is deep golden. I cooked these on low so they didn’t get too dark.

3. Add peas, grated carrot, fried cashews and soaked sultanas to the onion mix.

3. Toast saffron strands in a dry pan for lese than a minute, turn onto a saucer when cool and crisp, crush with the back of a spoon and dissolve in a tablespoon of hot water. Add saffron, turmeric, cardamom, salt and pepper to the onions and stir well. Add rice noodles and toss together with tongs until the noodles are evenly coloured yellow. Taste and check seasoning.

4. Serve straight out of the cast iron pan with egg quarters on top. Serve hot with a curry (which follows).

Stringhopper Pilau with the Seitan Jalfrezi

Seitan Jalfrezi

1 packet Seitan strips
Flour
Paprika
Olive Oil

1 bottle Seeds of Change Jalfrezi Simmer Sauce

1. Dredge Seitan in Flour and Paprika till evenly coated.

2. Saute seitan till golden brown.

3. Add to Jalfrezi sauce on low simmer till hot.

Easy Sunday Dinner!

The book of Asian Food