A Sri Lankan fish curry

Another tremendous post Christmas dish. Therese Rajadurai, Wandsworth Asian community librarian, has been another keen supporter of Stitch from the start. Before her annual pre-Christmas trip to Sri Lanka, she very kindly came along to the York Gardens Library classes to help out. And even found the time to contribute a recipe.

A Sri Lankan Fish Curry

Ingredients

6 pieces fish (Kingfish or salmon)

1 Tbsp Chilli powder

2 Tbsp Coriander powder

½ tsp Cumin powder

½ tsp Black pepper

½ tsp Cumin seeds + ½ tsp Cumin seeds

7 cloves Garlic – chopped and mashed

½ tsp Fenugreek

½ cup Coconut milk

½ cup Tamarind water

½ Onion

Salt

Curry leaves

Oil

½ tsp of black pepper

Basmati Rice

Method

• Fry the onion with the cumin seeds and fenugreek.

• When brown add the coconut milk and all the spices individually.

• When it comes to the boil add the fish pieces.

• When the fish is cooked add the tamarind and salt (to taste)

• Just before taking the fish out off the heat add the black pepper, 2 cloves of garlic and ½ tsp Cumin seeds (these add to the flavour). At the end put some curry leaves to bring out the full aroma.

• Serve with boiled Basmati rice or String Hoppers or Hoppers

• Desert can be Vatilappann (Sri Lankan egg custard – delicious)

Words for the pillowcase

My daughter's great friend Tessa has taken up the embroidered word theme this Christmas and embroidered a pillowcase for her parents as a present. It looks brilliant - the opening lines of The Go-Between (L.P .Hartley).
So ....first lines and closing lines of novels on pillowcases - a project for the New Year?

Chinese steamed cod from Lam Moy

As promised ... a series of fish recipes contributed by the embroidery class will follow. To kick off - Chinese steamed cod from Lam Moy who is one of the dedicated embroiderers continuing to meet on Thursdays at York Gardens Library, even after the formal classes have finished a spontaneous sewing circle. Left: Lam with Maureen Markham, who kindly came to give a demonstration to launch the exhibition at York Gardens Library.

Chinese steamed cod

Ingredients:

Cod

Ginger – shredded

Chinese mushrooms (or other) – sliced

Spring onions – shredded

Soya sauce – Light

Sesame oil – dash

Strips of Carrot – for garnish

Method:

Steam the cod, ginger, mushrooms, soya sauce and sesame oil.

Add spring onions before serving and decorate with strips of carrot before serving

Serve with rice.

Jessica Aldred's website

Jessica Aldred, of the Royal School of Needlework, who has been such an enthusiastic backer of Stitch, has just launched her own website . Pictured: Jessica (far right) when women from Battersea, south London, paid a visit to the RSN collection and ateliers at Hampton Court Palace, this summer.

A German blog and Arthurian romance

Another suggestion from a reader... A German blog.
And an interesting coincidence - the writer (though I don't speak German, so am not sure!) has been to Cornwall recently, home of Arthurian romance and the setting for Tristan and Iseult's ill-fated romance, already mentioned...
And home to another Bridging Arts project, I Packed This Myself, which throws a spotlight on migrant workers who play a vital role in the Cornish economy - in fact it would grind to a halt without them.

The order of the fish

Just to recap what fired the discussion about cooking in our embroidery classes....
Our own fish embroidery, a kantha (quilt) from Bangladesh has been loaned by Ferdous Rahman, of Restart 50+. These quilts are traditionally made by stitching layers of fabric together, sometimes old saris.













The fish motifs on the quilt inspired many of the embroiderers - At other classes, we also asked participants to bring in embroidery from home that they cherished.
It also inspired Hannah Walker who designed a fish motif for our sewing pack. At the classes, she pointed out that the fish is a Christian symbol, but is also widely used in the Islamic world... Pictured - a fish banner of the Mughal emperors. Each of the sewing packs has a theme for discussion. Naturally the fish motif prompted talk about cooking and recipes. To follow: more recipes contributed by participants.

Embroidery workshop recipe for Christmas

As previously mentioned, Glynn Christian, the UK’s first TV chef, is a keen embroiderer and brought in his collection of landscapes to one of the classes. Following our discussion on cooking, inspired by the fish motif studied in week two, he offered the following recipe for general Christmas enjoyment.

UNCOOKED CRANBERRY RELISH from Glynn Christian

This truly delicious and attractive relish, originally from New England in the USA, is easier made with a food processor but a sharp and heavy chopping knife and a few minutes will give equally good results. Once made it softens, turns a pretty pink and the flavours all exchange to produce something original and fresh tasting. Cranberries have a very high Vitamin C content, and it is this that gives the relish its very long life. I find it is a much appreciated Christmas gift and as well as being served with turkey or other birds it really brings leftovers to life.

The recipe is excellent what ever the proportions you use, so do not hassle about exact amounts. It is better to err on the side of making the chopped pieces too big rather than too small: it will mean only that the relish takes a little more time to soften and mature, and it looks better than when too finely chopped.

Wash a large sweet orange and a small lemon, cut into quarters and then remove any pips. Core but do not peel a large, sharp apple - a Bramley is ideal, of course. Process the orange and lemon in a food processor until rough and finely chopped but not a puree - you might have to do this in two or three batches. Remove the mixture and then roughly chop the apple in the processor, again staying well away from making a puree. Mix the apple into the citrus mixture. Then process 8oz/ 250g or so of fresh of frozen whole cranberries until the cranberries are all cut up but still in varying sizes. Mix everything together and then add 4oz/ 100 - 125g of sugar - white or brown.

Cover and leave at room temperature for 24 hours by which time everything will have begun to soften, and then give it a good mix and taste - it might need more sugar. Store in refrigerator at least a week before using - longer is better.

Variations: add 50g/2oz of finely chopped celery including some leaves OR 4oz/ 125g chopped fresh pineapple OR 4oz/125g well-roasted pecans, roughly chopped. Two or three tablespoons of vodka, gin, cognac or port make a great addition too - as you might imagine. Small amounts of any or all of these additions might be added every time you serve some of the relish.

Embroidery from the train

Taking out the Christmas wrapping paper box discover a forgotten piece of embroidery packed away by accident. Dating from the summer when I had an obsession with embroidering words on fabric - a way of whiling away the hours up and down to Cornwall on the train.
Think the small words work well - have done some pillowcases as Christmas presents with much larger patterns (and not lines from Dante's Inferno! but more cheerful thoughts...)
But small seems best in this context.

Two Stitch Christmas cards and a present

Two wonderful Christmas cards with a Stitch theme ....
Crocheted snow-white flowers from Katrina Williams (above) who has been a lynchpin of the project since it started. And from Momtaz Begum-Hossain a printed card with a button and flower edged with inked stitches. Plus.... a spectacular brooch with which to dazzle on dark winter afternoons. (Momtaz and her sisters are loyal supporters of Bridging Arts, all producing fabulous entries for the British Sari Story annual competition.) A very Merry Christmas to Katrina, Momtaz, Joleka and Fatema - and everyone who has worked so hard on Stitch this year.

Beware of embroidery

News from a blog reader about an exhibition coming up in Ealing in January. Five artists' work displayed – Kate Keara Pelen, Louise Riley, Tilleke Schwarz, Laura Splan and Tamar Stone. Click through to their websites to see examples of their amazing work.