Last curry bun experiment from Bite Nite. I ended up serving the regular curry buns (previous three posts) on a bed of kale sambol, which was beautiful and delicious and good. I’d do that again.
But as I was making them, I found myself wondering whether I could just add some kale sambol inside the bun, and make a more nutritious and even tastier curry buns. I’m honestly not sure whether to call this a success or not, because the kale definitely cooked while the bun was baking, so you lost all the green sharp freshness of it, and even the raw onions and tomato and coconut mellowed out. That was kind of sad, seeing what happened to the kale. The end flavor was much milder than I was expecting.
But that said — I might do it again, esp. if I was making curry buns to take to a picnic or some such. Get a little vegetable in there with your curry — can’t hurt, might help. And I do think it added a bit of interesting flavor contrast as well.
Kale sambol recipe from cookbook below. I recommend making some every time you make a curry — so good! 
*****
Kale Sambol
I had never been a big kale fan, but my friend, Roshani, completely converted me with her Aunty Indranee’s use of kale in this traditional sambol. In Sri Lanka, this would have been made with a native green, gotu kola, but kale is an excellent substitute (you can also try any other leafy greens, like beet greens, mustard greens, or rainbow chard).
For this preparation, kale is chopped small and tenderized with lime juice. When mixed with the coconut, tomatoes, sugar, and salt, the result is a tasty and addictive sambol that has become an essential component to many of our meals — if I make a meat curry now, I almost always make kale sambol to accompany it, and will often eat more sambol than curry. I’d have it with a little rice, but Kevin likes to just have beef curry and kale sambol together in a bowl, or with steak on a plate, which is also delicious.
1 bunch kale, leaves stripped off (stems discarded)
1 medium onion, minced
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1-2 cups cherry tomatoes, chopped
Juice of 2 small limes (about 2-3 TBL)
1-2 TBL sugar
1 tsp fine salt
1. Pulse kale in food processor until completely shredded into small bits.
2. Add onion, coconut, tomato, lime juice, sugar, salt. Mix thoroughly.
Can be served immediately, but best if allowed to sit and blend for an hour or so. Will keep in fridge for a good week—refresh with a little extra lime juice as needed.