August 17th 2014

Wow! I have been crazy busy and have not written anything in a while!!
Lots and lots of new little things happening over here in my part of the world

I started something called Curry Diva Wednesdays now. . . . .
This is at Out Kitchen Uptown where I take it over for curry dinners every Wednesday...its fun ... this is where everyone now will be able to get their curry fix once a week at least!!!
So I come up with a small menu and I have a nice sweet little menu board where I write the specials on and everyone will read it and order from.
Working it out with my Maddes girl (Madison)- who everyone loves and talks to she is part of the curry diva family and its all good!

I also make rotti bread more often now and serve that as an appetizer as well and without forgetting that I can do my rotti meals more often because I don't really have to make hundreds of rotties and everyone loves this stuff - its a bit of a good kinda addiction!!!  :)

The other thing that I make every week is the great Diva Chai which everyone loves - its delish ! I will tell you I make it with really good black tea (BOP Tea)
and then add the non dairy milk and spices and of course my famous green cardamom pod and rose water as well....so really settling for the belly and taste great for some activation too!!!

For those of you that have not been there for this crazy little diner activation spot - just sign in on the mailing list and get in on the deal - you can just call me too and come on over 612-250-6556
www.thecurrydiva.com

Desert!!!! This has been a bit challenging for me in a creative way - I am not your simple measure the ingredients kinda gal - so my deserts are what I dream up for the week -moving forward though I plan on asking my desert queen the ever so lovely Ciara - that makes amazing deserts - she said that she will make some for me and I will give her the Sri Lankan twists to all of them as we are planning on what to make....Yum!!

"Nourish the body and Feed the soul"
I will plan on seeing you guys there soon then for some diner style curry fix and some great conversation - whatever subject that may be

cheers!

Hey there - yes it was dinner for one again last night!!
It was such a beautiful day yesterday and I was a bit tired !!! getting stuff
ready for my long over due garage sale - its really a designer clothing sale
because from all those years of being a personal shopper on the side with
my cooking while I was taking care of my daughter I sure had heaps of
clothes that are wonderful and now they all have to go I just have too much
clothes and its time to downsize just a little bit in that department!

Here is what I ended up having for dinner - \
Looking in my fridge I remembered that I had some ground goat that needed to
be cooked so I threw that in a pan with one shitake mushroom chopped up
and some garlic and a bit of diva blend then some onions and some left over
sticky rice = tossed that till it was all done and added a touch of coconut milk
and it was a one pan meal and tasted so YUM!!! really.....

June 18th 2014

It feels like I have not written anything in a long time...
I had a weekend off without any catering events and that
felt good in a way because I was able to just chill..and hang....
But the good news is that I am working on my little diva dinner
gatherings which will start in July - every Wednesday Night there
will be something to celebrate - I will be Our Kitchens featured
chef and everyone will be able to come over there and have
all the old Sri Lanka dishes that I created a long time ago!!!
Yeaaa I am so excited about this...now you can have a rotti when
ever you want - or at least every Wednesday ....so I am thinking
that I should start with rotti night for sure...
maybe even Lamb rotti and veggie rotti and veggie rotti with shrimp.
Yes that is what I will do and maybe even get out the fig ginger chutney
and some hot coconut sambol.......
I should be thinking about what to do for desert - because I will be
only doing one desert - and I am thinking about it for sure - then I am
also thinking about an appetizer as well something simple and maybe even
a nice salad -
What should I do for drinks... I think some great chai tea in the tea
maker and maybe mango juice over ice - keeping it simple
I am excited to "nourish the body and feed the soul"

June 7th 2014
Cooking for a wedding today
Its for an English girl marring local boy
very fun - I loved that she said that she would love
to have pappadams at her wedding for part of the meal
we are making lots of goodies
Buryani rice with lots of cashews and herbs and ghee
and also masala chicken - slow cooked with diva blend of spices
The slaw is with arugula and eggplant and sesame dressing
Curried potatoes we thought would be a Minnesota favorite
Condiment table will of course have fig chutney - yogurt mint
cooler and hot coconut sambol to spice up with

For desert they will have the wedding cake
Its a bit on the rainy side today but that is a lucky thing I am
told on the day of a wedding - showers of blessings from above is
always a great added plus - either way everyone will be warm and happy after this activating meal

Looking forward to it and it will be great!!!
My lovely assistants are Isabelle and Aruie - decided that Aruni will be a good pappadam fryer girl :) 

June 3rd 2014
Dinner for one again!!! 
It was a crazy beautiful day today with the sun shinning and warm weather!!
I had some really nice Australian red wine - and I am sure that most people think that
I am always with people - lately I have been doing lots of things alone!!
I did get lots of things done today - worked on a catering deal - made lots of phone calls
wrote out a wonderful menu for an upcoming graduation party etc

Ok so now dinner time - what to make - what to make -what to make??
I remembered that I had about a cup of crabmeat left over....
So I cooked up some soba noodles - set that aside took about 3 minutes is all....
Then in a little one meal pans - I heated up a little garlic some sweet onions and
a few shitake mushrooms - spiced it with some black pepper and coriander
then threw in the crab and the soba noodles - a bit of Himalayan salt to taste
and it was so so so delish!!!
And of course I tried one of my favorite condiments with it (Lunumiris)
I recommend that everyone try this with even some left over tuna or anything like
that it was so great - and of course I did not take a photo of it!!!

I nourished my body and fed my soul!!!
Now back to work for about another hour or so and then bed

May 31st 2014
I has been a very busy week
and most of my focus has been on the cocktail party for the Doctor group
and they were very happy with the things that I came up with for appetizers!!!
Here is a list of what I did .........
~ Mini Lamb bites - made with ground lamb and lima beans served with goat
cheese raita..
~ stuffed tarts - filo tarts stuffed with shiitake mushrooms and salami - delish!!
~ Curried deviled eggs - with roasted spices
~ French bread topped with triple brie and pickled eggplant and chutney
~ Mini eggrolls made with chicken and lemongrass
~ Wok tossed turmeric shrimp on skewers

Totally enjoyed by everyone - there was also a service that came in to serve
red and white wine that went well with the apps...
I think that they were very pleased with the results and Maddess and I enjoyed
doing the event!! 

And my two favorite girls ( my best young diva helpers)

Ahhhhh and this is my very famous Stuffed Rotti with Shrimp!!!

Another Diva Dinner May 24th 2014
Wow!! this one was amazing - great group of different fun fab people and this time around - we asked Graycloud to come over and take some photos of the evening - well other than the food we had no idea how the evening would end
Here is a few shots from the event I will continue more of them in the next few days stay tuned !!

Like they say back home - bloody hell that was good!!!!
 
I just have to tell you what I had for dinner tonight!!
Been working all day and decided to make dinner for the diva and settle in before
I have to do more work - I tend to work even better after a glass of good Australian
cabernet !!! - so checked in the fridge and decided I had to manage with left overs...
Here is what I had in there - the meat of one lamb shank - chopped that up
some green onion - bacon of course !!! ha! I know this sounds really too much
but here goes........
Sautéed the green onion and garlic threw in the bacon then the meat and left over
soba noodles... three chopped up shiitake mushrooms...bloody hell what the hell....
I am worth it!!!! so then in went two slices of brie...YES we are talking real decadence....
Yes it was heavy and yet really light and still so tasty and yes I wish I would have had a
platter of it to share with everyone I know - yes it was good - sometimes left overs and put
togetherness are the best best best ever!!! I wanted to take a photo of it but I think it did not
look as good as I wanted it to - so therefore no photo!!
It was amazing - just diva-rrific  !!!!

Today was a great day!!!

I started my day by cooking for Momi's 50th birthday meal!
I made her these things and it was great - I hope she enjoys it all!
~ stir fry brown rice with veggies - tossed in the wok with ghee
~ curried lentils - in a coconut curry sauce
~ squash - cooked with toasted coconut and mustard seeds
~ Brussels sprouts mallung tossed with coconut
~ Mixed berry and tomato archaroo - pickle salad
~ fancy pappadams and sambol and chutneys etc

I have posted all the photos on Instagram with todays date
check it out and see what you think

cheers!

Great evening at the cocktail party at the Montessori Center of Mpls. this evening - a very simple apps tasting - but it was really good
Here is a few photos of the little bites that I put together for the evening!!

Fun day at the Sea Salt restaurant......
Here are some photos of what we were doing there today
I took two photos of the Mother Curry Sauce being made
And then of course I needed to try out my chili Squid !! it was so great!!!
And it tasted so so great - I wanted it to be much more hotter but for some
reason the chili was not as spicy as I wanted it to be.....
Check it out see what you think!!

To my surprise Curry Night was sold out last night at the Highland Grill
We served curried Pork with my dark blend of spices and a little molasses
And also Divalisious Chicken curry and of course the veggie option was
a combination of lots of veggies dishes and curried eggs as well...
Dinner hours are from 5 to 9 pm but yesterday about 7.45 we were all out
of curry - so I have been telling people to get there before 8pm every Monday
night before we run out!!
My assistant Madison was great as always doing her thing that she does so well!!
Gotta love that Maddess!!

Now I am sitting here pretty close to bed time for me thinking of what spices
to get together for my Mother Sauce that I will be making for the Sea Salt
Restaurant tomorrow - Wednesday!!
I will be roasting and grinding them fresh from scratch!!
Yes I am at the Sea Salt restaurant every Wednesday now - making their curry
sauces for the week and also making some amazing chutneys and of course
some hot coconut sambol as well - the customers are starting to love the dishes
that they come up with there with their great fresh Seafood!!
We have a few things up are sleeve that we are talking about for some specials that
they are planning to run at the Sea Salt
Make sure that you check the "board" for what their specials are and order a curry that
you will remember for sure and I hope you love it as much as I do - it is amazing!!
Give it a try - let me know what you think!1

"nourish the body - feed the soul"

~ Another amazing Diva Dinner ~

There were a mix of peeps from all walks of life there -
beautiful salon people - retail people - new mom's - air plane people
entertainers - singers - belly dancers - and all kinds of great people
that all ended up getting to know each other and being new face book
friends etc. . . . . this is one of my favorite things that happen at a Diva Dinner!!
And of course the amazing food!! that it is all based around!!
the smells the tastes - the laughter and jokes and stories etc....
and everyone loves my assistant Maddess!!!

Here is a shot or two of some of the dishes I made last night
This was the Australian Lamb slow cooked in yogurt and coriander with
a touch of cardamom and the diva blend!!
Served over wok tossed samba rice from Sri Lanka with popped mustard seeds and ghee!

The Desert of course!! I am usually not great at deserts unless it is something I can throw together and be really creative and learn as I go sort of speak...I took one of my old favorites from Australia - sticky date cake and instead of making it with flour and butter - because so many people are dairy free and gluten free - I made it with a little bit of ghee and coconut flour and it was just so light and delish !!! For the topping which turned out a bit darker than I wanted was preserved ginger and lemon rind slow cooked in coconut trickle - total yumness!! crazy good and served it over a slice of star fruit....
have a look - see what you think....
" nourish the body - feed the soul  " 

Grocery shopping for the Diva Dinner!!
I take so much pride in doing this - I just love
going to visit my vendors and seeing what they have
to show me etc....
today I found really nice Australian Lamb - I started
to remember all the things that I do with Lamb and decided
that I would make it with the yogurt sauce - and a touch
of cilantro and ghee...and the beautiful touch of zucchini !!!
(the very light colored zucchini)
This would be amazing if I served it over some wok tossed
white samba rice - yum!!! yes that is what I will do

And with the chicken I will slow cook it in saffron and
almond butter with a touch of coconut milk
I think that I will serve that over inka red quinoa
Which is really simple but delish when its soaked with
the sauces of the chicken in the coconut gravy
That sounds great to me

I will think upon the salad and its dressing as I sleep!

oh and desert - I just pre prepped the dressing for my date
cake/pudding - the topping is made with ginger preserve
slow cooked with a little bit of trickle and lemon peel
Yum !
ok now I feel better - yes "nourish the body - feed the soul"

What a lovely day it was today!!
Nice weather for being at the SeaSalt Restaurant!!

We made some amazing pickled eggplant and then made
my famous Fish in mustard sauce with some really fresh Cod
it was so YUM!!

It was great to chat with Jon who owns the SeaSalt place
about the old Sri Lanka Curry House days and make some
of the dishes I used to make there
So now I think that they want to do that mustard Fish Dish
as a special together with my other Mother Curry Diva
Sauce dishes!! which will be great

We then also put together a great tomato raisin chutney
Which everyone loved too!!

hope you guys will all get to SeaSalt and  try my specials
that I put together for them

And you must come try a diva dinner as well - it is for sure a
must do!! www.thecurrydiva.com
Make sure you sign up otherwise you will not be able to
come to one - see you soon!

Cheers !
Curry Diva
"Nourish the body- feed the Soul"

Dinner with the Curry Diva
"nourish the body - feed the soul"

Chili Squid - this dish is so Yummy !!!
"nourish the body - feed the soul"

https://www.facebook.com/149202955138442/photos/a.451038791621522.103145.149202955138442/693364770722255/?type=1&theater

Super busy tonight at the Highland Grill
We were almost out of everything before 8pm
I think that there were many new guests because they had seen
the article in the Villager (see link)
I think it was great that we did lemongrass Snapper
It turned out really yummy...
And after searching for thai chilies I finally found them to be
able to make a great coconut sambol with it ( it was nice and HOT)
It was a great evening!

Now I am looking forward to planning the next diva dinner
My thoughts are that I will make a sticky date pudding but I will make
it with coconut flour....this way it will be gluten free as well...
Usually my diva dinners are gluten free - dairy free - and fat free without
even putting any thoughts into it - this stuff is really good!!
Will post more about the next diva dinner soon!

Here is a video that Steve posted from one of the Diva Dinners
Last Month
It was a fun night and of course I talked too much!!
cheers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZXXETLddLns&feature=em-share_video_user

The Curry Diva
www.thecurrydiva.com

DIVALICIOUS..NESS HAPPENED LAST NIGHT!!!!

What an amazing evening it was
Here is the menu that I made for 8 people

For the nibbles while the cocktails were had. . . .
Date/lime cumin salsa - with blue corn chippers!!

Dinner!
~first
Singapore chili prawns tossed in the wok with my
very own chili sauce lemongrass and kaffir
*served over samba yellow rice tossed with ghee
~second
Diva slaw with mustard - arugula - sweet onion and
sweet vinegar
~third
New Zealand leg of Lamb - slow cooked with the dark
curry diva blend of spices and cardamom
*Served over quinoa and corn
~fourth
Desert - cooked and chilled melon with coconut milk
and mango sorbet ..oh yeah delish!!!

And then of course I was talked into doing a song
so I belted out Janis Joplin's "me and Bobbie Magee"

Grateful I had two glasses of great wine ha!!
the song was not bad at all considering that one guest
pulled out his guitar and was really good!
This was a great evening - #lovewhatido blessed!

"nourish the body - feed the soul" hj

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=644274328921763&set=a.156742411008293.38863.100000176062012&type=1&theater

Private dinner tonight for 12 people
This is what we made for them

~Aged brown rice tossed in the wok with ghee and sultana raisins
some fried shallots
~ Slow cooked chicken - with my very own Garam Masala spice blend
chopped up cilantro and a bit or crushed almonds
~ French Green beans - tossed with Ceylon cinnamon and fried onions
and lots of black pepper - fresh curry leaves
~ Butternut Squash - cooked with cardamom and toasted coconut
and fresh turmeric

~ And the condiments were HOT coconut sambol - Raita a yogurt fresh mint
cooler and Ginger plum chutney

There was a hour long cocktail merriment and then when they dived into the
divalicious ness they were instantly activated !!!
So great to see that look on everyone's face and when some of the guys broke out
into a sweat when they had the hot sambol...ha yeaa Nice!!

Have you ever been activated by The Curry Diva?

you'll never know what it's like until you try it! get ALL the info by signing up on her website, www.thecurrydiva.com !!

Be Activated! Be DIVAlicious!

xx

Did you know? The Curry Diva was featured on MPR! "the local unsung hero"

http://www.mprnews.org/story/2014/02/18/curry-diva

Beautiful! Activating! DIVAlicious!

Check it out: hear her voice, see her pictures, support this Curry Goddess!

www.thecurrydiva.com

xx