Country as Larkin recollected (3,5)
I believe the answer is:
sri lanka
'country' is the definition.
(I know that Sri Lanka is a country)
'as larkin recollected' is the wordplay.
'recollected' indicates anagramming the letters (letters recollected and rearranged).
'as'+'larkin'='aslarkin'
'aslarkin' anagrammed gives 'SRI LANKA'.
(Other definitions for sri lanka that I've seen before include "Present name of Ceylon" , "Ceylon since 1972" , "Former Ceylon" , "Asian country, originally the Arabic Serendib or Serendip" , "Island country in the Indian Ocean" .)