Culinary Chronicles
By Yasmin Rahul Bakshi
Two decades ago, Tiger was selected for a professional military course where fellow student officers from Sri Lanka were also being trained.
It was reciprocal to invite and be invited over meals – a good opportunity for social interactions and to imbibe a slice of their cuisine.
“Kaha Bath” was one of many dishes that I relished at their homes: rice cooked in coconut milk and saffron with other subsidiary yet integral condiments.
Sri Lankan cuisine has an amalgamated influence of English, Portuguese, Dutch, Malay, Arab, and Indian cultures, as the island rested on the spice trade route in antiquity and was itself a spice-producing nation.
The art of baking a variety of breads and tempering with spices was adopted from the Portuguese, while the Dutch taught them to pickle. The British introduced tea plantations along with their high tea traditions. “Biryani” and “Aluwa” (halwa) were introduced by the Arabs. Concurrently, credit for everyday Sri Lankan cooking goes to South India.
Another thing I grew familiar with was the use of dehydrated Moringa leaves by the Sri Lankans. They rustle them up in various dishes with potatoes, coconut, lentils, meat, etc.
The flavours of Kaha Bath are deep, infused to the core of each grain. Many times, I serve this as a side dish with a South Indian meal or just as it is.
KAHA BATH
Ingredients:
- Rice – 1.5 cups.
- Garlic – 6 cloves (finely chopped)
- Ginger – 1 inch (finely chopped)
- Onion – ¼ cup (finely chopped)
- Green chilies – 2 (finely chopped)
- Butter – 2 Tbsp
- Green cardamom – 4 nos.
- Cloves – 4 nos.
- Black peppercorn – 8 nos.
- Turmeric powder – ½ tsp.
- Curry leaves – 15 nos.
- Coconut cream – ½ cup.
- Salt – according to taste
- Whole red chillies – 6 nos.
- Cashew nuts – 25 nos.
Method:
Wash the rice and soak in two cups of water for an hour.
Heat a cooking pot and add the butter. Once the butter melts, add in the cardamoms, black peppercorns, cloves, whole red chillies, and cashew nuts. Sauté for a few seconds.
Add the chopped garlic, ginger, onions, and green chilies. Sauté until golden brown.
Add in the salt and turmeric powder and mix well.
At this stage, add the soaked rice along with the water.
Pour in the coconut cream and mix, ensuring the rice grains do not break.
Cook until the rice is tender.
Switch off the flame. Gently shuffle the rice.
Serve hot.
(I have used the Seeraga Samba variety of rice; Basmati can also be used.)
(Yasmin Rahul Bakshi is a food historian and an accomplished Chef associated with multinational hospitality brands – a widely travelled Army wife from the Mussoorie hills with exposure to international cuisines & preserving recipes with the medium of food photography and digital content creation in the form of stories to reach the readers.)
