Sri Lankan Eggplant Pickle (Wambotu Moju \ Batu Moju)

Ingredients:

• Eggplant 500g
• Salt 1tsp (Adjust according to taste)
• Turmeric 1 tsp
• Shallots 250g 
• Green Chillies 50g (Make an incision at the center of each green chilli)
• Chilli Powder: 1tbsp
• Sugar: 2tbsp
• Mustard 2tbsp (Ground)
• Garlic 4 cloves (Ground to a smooth paste)
• Ginger 1/2 inch piece (Ground to a smooth paste)
• Vinegar 5tbsp
• Oil for frying 500ml

Directions:

1) Cut the eggplant into thin batons of 2-inch length (More like french fries).
2) Put the eggplant into a bowl add turmeric and salt and mix well.
3) Heat the oil in a saucepan and deep fry the eggplant batons until it takes a dark amber colour and crispy in texture.
4) In the meantime in a glass bowl mix the following ingredients to make the paste for the moju and leave aside:Vinegar, Sugar, Chilli Powder, Ginger, Garlic, Mustard.
5) When all the eggplant batons have been fried add the shallots and green chillies to the oil and fry it for 30 seconds (This will get rid of the rawness of the shallots and mild the heat of the green chillies a bit)
6) Finally add the deep fried eggplant batons, shallots and green chillies to the paste prepared in step 4 and mix well.

That is it, you now have a delicious Wambotu Moju! (The taste improves even more over time) Enjoy!

Fish Rolls

Yield: 15-17 Fish Rolls

Pancake Batter:
Plain Flour  2 Cups
Water 2-3 Cups
Turmeric 1/4 tsp
Eggs 1
Salt to Taste

Filling:
Canned Tuna  225g
4 small onions finely chopped (Approximately 350g)
Potatoes 450g
Pepper 1 1/2 tsp
Green Chillies 4 (Finely Chopped)
Garlic 3 Cloves Finely Chopped
Ginger 1/2 inch Finely Chopped
Curry Leaves Chopped
Lime Juice 2 tsp
Oil 2 tbsp
Salt o Taste

For the Crumb Coating:
Bread Crumbs 250g
Eggs 5

Oil for Frying 500ml

Method:

Pancake Batter:

1. Add all ingredients for the batter into a mixing bowl and mix well. The consistency of the batter should be thin and lump free. If there are any lumps pass it through a sieve to get rid of them. Easy enough :) now, set this aside and move onto the filling:

Filling:

1. Boil the potatoes, once ready peel and roughly mash it (don't mash it too fine).

2. Heat up a frying pan with 2tbsp of Oil and add in the chopped Garlic, Ginger and Curry Leaves to release the flavours and infuse the oil (Around 1 minute). 

3. Then add the chopped onions, green chillies and pepper and stir fry them for about  10 minutes.

4. Add the tuna and potatoes to this mixture and mix them well. Cook this for 3-5 minutes in a low flame.

5. Season with salt to your taste.

6. Switch off the heat and add the lime juice.

Assembly:

1. Heat up a frying pan and spoon in the pancake mixture and spread it as thinly as possible as you would do when making normal pancake or a creep. Keep the size to around 5 inches in diameter.

Tip: Don't overcook the pancake just 30 seconds on each side will do.

2. While the pancake is warm, spoon in around 2 tbsp of the filling into the center of the pancake and fold it up. When folding first tuck in the two sides and then roll it over as shown in the picture below:

3. Once you have prepared all the rolls it is time to get them crumb coated. For crumb coating beat the 5 eggs in a bowl and in a separate bowl have your bread crumbs ready.

4. Dip each prepared roll in the egg mixture and put it into the bread crumb mix and ensure the roll is fully coated with bread crumbs.

Tip: For a better result crumb coat each roll twice.

5. Deep fry the crumb coated rolls until golden brown (Around 3-4 minutes)

Hope you enjoy this tasty snack which is great  as a tea time snack and this marries well with a good ketchup sauce.