Sri Lankan Vegetable and Coconut Curry

Don’t be put off by the list of spices here: most of them are easily available, and most of them you will already have. Curry leaves can be bought at Indian grocery stores, as can fenugreek (also called methi). Buy a bunch of curry leaves and keep in your freezer for the next time you need them. (I do this with fresh chillies as well: just throw them in the freezer, whole. When needed, they can be chopped up frozen – they will defrost in your hand as you are holding them). The rest of the items are available from any supermarket. Feel free to use different vegetables – I just used what I had on hand.

A photograph (and the original recipe on my site) can be found HERE:


Ingredients

Spices

10 curry leaves

2 teaspoons of fennel seeds

1 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground fenugreek

1/2 teaspoon powdered cardomom (break open the pods and use the seeds inside only)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

Main Ingredients

1 tablespoon of vegetable oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated

2 tablespoons tomato puree

1 can coconut milk

1 can chopped tomatoes

200g frozen spinach

100g frozen sweetcorn

200g green beans

1/2 cup red lentils

2 vegetable stock cubes, crumbled

Juice of one lemon

Method

1. Firstly, make up the spice mix. Set aside.

2. In a large pan, saute the onion in the vegetable oil for 5 minutes until translucent. Add garlic and ginger, cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring regularly.

3. Add spice mix and stir to cover onion mix.

4. Add tomato puree, coconut milk and chopped tomatoes and vegetable stock cubes. Heat through.

5. Add vegetables and lentils. Cook for approximately 30 minutes, until red lentils are soft.

6. Add lemon juice, and stir through.

7. Serve with basmati rice and chapattis.

 

Hi Angie
This looks like a good recipe. I have a Sri Lankan friend who always dry roasts the whole spices before grinding them. Apparently this is what gives their curries the signature taste. Could work here too.
Andrew

 

Hi Andrew
You're right. I often dry roast whole spices and then grind them myself. I don't tend to put that step into my recipes as it may be a step too far for some people! But yes, it definitely makes a difference, and you can do that with any of my recipes with spices if you have a few extra minutes - an electric grinder helps as well