Seeni Sambol (Caramalised Onion with Ceylon Spices) & a Brief Note about Popular Sri Lankan food

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 Seeni sambol, pol sambol, hoppers,string hoppers, kottu & chinese rolls are some of the popular Ceylon (SriLankan) food. Sri Lankan cuisine has many similarities with Kerala cuisine. Weuse lot of coconut milk, grated coconut and spices which are locally availableingredients. However even within Sri Lanka, there are minor differences amongJaffnese, Sinhalese, Muslims & hill country cuisine.

My origins are from Jaffna, we eat redparboiled rice and make string hoppers and pittu with red rice flour. Also we usetamarind and coconut milk to make tangy hot and sour curries. Sinhalese use lot ofwheat flour to make their food and also white rice & red raw rice is popular. Hence you wouldfind bread, different variety of rotis (flat breads) and   ingredients like goraka (Gambooge),lemon grass being used to flavor curries. In Muslim cuisine you would find dates and influence of Malay cooking in their food. In hill country where teaplantations are, tea pluckers eat lot of rotis. Sri Lankan rotis are madewith wheat flour and grated coconut.

Seeni sambol is one of the popularspread used in Ceylon to make sandwiches. Mainly because it can be cooked andstored in air tight containers in fridge for few weeks. I have fond memories of havingseeni sambol sandwiches when we had gone on overnight school trips. Lots ofonions are thinly sliced, stir fried in oil till they are slightly browned.Crushed cinnamon and green cardamom powder is used to enhance the aroma. Brown colorcomes from sugar, curry powder and chili. I like to spread it on my sandwiches with melted cheese on top. You canalso serve it with typical Sri Lankan food like hoppers and pittu. ( Pittu appearslike cous cous & is made with rice flour and steamed with grated coconut)
Hoppers looks like half a ball(hemispherical shape) and is a crispy crepe served as breakfast or dinner.Hoppers are made with fermented rice flour. Generally served with Seeni sambol,sambol or lunu miris (spicy salad made with lots of onions and crushed red chilies)
String hoppers on the other hand issteamed noodles made with rice flour dough. The dough is filled in a mould.Then the mould is gently squeezed to get strings, which is pressed into specialstring hopper mat in the shape of small circles.
String hoppers


Sambol is also another popular SriLankan food item. Its made with grated coconut, crushed red chilis  and onion. 
Sambol
And the most popular Ceylon street food is Kottu, which is roti pieces (flat bread) mixed with curry sauce, vegetables or meat.Vegetable Kottu
Chinese rolls are actually a snack. Its wheat flour pancakes filled with potato and  vegetable or meat or fish curry.Then coated with bread crumbs and deep fried. Crunchy on outside with yummycurry filling. If you are spice foodie you will absolutely fall in love withSri Lankan food.
Coming back to today's recipe - Seenisambol; I spread it on baguette bread and made a subway style sandwich. Fillingis seeni sambol, cheese, topped with cucumber and tomatoes. Spread the choiceof your sauce. I used mustard sauce.
Print Recipe here
Ingredients

Onion 1kg
50 ml / 4 large tbsp canola oil
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
half a stick of crushed cinnamon or 1 tsp cinnamon powder
2 tbsp zero chili curry powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp sugar
handful of curry leaves
Salt to taste

Method

Add roughly chopped onions into a food processor, coarsely blend them.Heat oil in a  non-stick pan, add onion, cardamom, cinnamon, curry leaves and salt. Stir with wooden spoon. Stir fry till onion  is lightly browned.When you notice change in color i.e slightly browned, add sugar, curry powder and chili powder. Stir to mix the spices with fried onion. Cook for few more minutes till they are fragrant. Turn off heat, once it completely cool down, refrigerate in a airtight container.

Here are some other Sri Lankan foodrecipe post links
Caramalised onion and garlic in hot and sour gravyGreen beans stir fryKottu (Flat bread pieces mixed with spicy curry sauce and vegetables)
Eggplant curryPumpkin curryCabbage stir fryMy Mom's zero chili curry powderBitter melon saladSri Lankan lunchSri Lankan dinner - String hoppers  Soya meat currySambol (Grated coconut salad)Deviled Chickpeas (Spicy snack served with Alcoholic drinks)String Hopper BiryaniCheck out other recipe posts under Sri Lankan Cuisine label