Favourite dishes

■ Ingredients: Wheat, onion, ground ginger and garlic, cinnamon, rampe or pandan leaves, curry leaves, ground cumin seeds, tomato, chilli powder, corn kernels, mushroom and coconut milk.

■ Preparation: Soak wheat for at least five hours. Chop the onion. Heat oil in a pan and put chopped onions, ground ginger and garlic, pieces of cinnamon, rampe and curry leaves. Sauté until it becomes golden brown. Add ground cumin seeds. Grate a tomato and add. Add a little chilli powder and cook for a while. Drain the soaked wheat and put it in the sautéed mix and add at least three cups of water. Add more water if the liquid dries up before the wheat is cooked. When cooked, the wheat should not be transparent. The corn kernels can be added now along with chopped mushrooms. Add a little water if the liquid dries up. Cook for a few minutes. Add 1 cup of thin coconut milk and ½ cup of thick coconut milk and cook. Just before the pan is removed from the stove, add chopped coriander leaves and enough salt and cook for a few minutes.

Fish cutlets

■ Ingredients: Mackerel or tuna without bones, potatoes, jalapeño peppers, onions, garlic, cloves, ginger, salt, curry powder, ground cumin, ground pepper, sugar, tomato sauce, oil, lemon juice, egg wash, and crust and breadcrumbs.

■ Preparation: Put potatoes in a saucepan and pour water. Bring the water to a boil and cook the potatoes until they are tender. Remove potato skin and crush them. Mash the fish into small pieces. Then in a saucepan, heat 3 tbsp of oil over medium flame. Add the onion, ginger and garlic and sauté until the onions become tender and translucent. Add the jalapeño and other peppers, salt, sugar and spices and sauté for about a minute. Add the fish and cook while mixing the spices with the fish for about 10-15 minutes. Add 2 tbsp of squeezed lemon juice and mix it. Add the potatoes and mix it through the fish until well combined. Add salt. Take a spoonful of the mix and roll it into a smooth 1½ inch diameter ball. Leave these balls on a parchment paper-lined baking tray. In a bowl, mix the two eggs and on a plate, mix the breadcrumbs with the optional spices. Evenly coat each fish ball with the egg mix and then coat them with the breadcrumbs. Now fry the balls until they turn a dark golden brown. Cutlets are ready to be served with sauce.