Green chili curry might sound like it’s going to be really spicy, but since we remove the seeds and then add potatoes and coconut milk, the end result of this curry is a pleasant but not overwhelming heat. Pleasant for me, at any rate!
6-8 large green chilies (hot or mild, to your taste)
1 medium potato, cubed small
2 small yellow onions, minced
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 t. fennel seeds
1/2 t. fenugreek seeds
1 stalk (about a dozen) curry leaves
1 c. coconut milk + 1 c. water
1/2 t. Sri Lankan curry powder
1/2 – 1 t. salt (to taste)
1 t. lime juice
1. Remove top end from chilies, slice lengthwise, and removed seeds. (Removing seeds is optional, but if you leave them, the resulting curry will be spicier and possibly a little bitter.)
2. Heat oil in a sauté pan or medium pot on medium-high, add fennel seeds, fenugreek seeds, and curry leaves. Stir for about a minute, until lightly browned.
3. Stir in onions and sauté about five minutes, until onions are golden-brown, stirring occasionally.
4. Stir in potatoes and green chilies, then add curry powder, coconut milk, water, and walt. Bring to a boil, then turn down to simmer.
5. Simmer until potatoes are cooked through; add more water if needed to keep veggies from sticking to the pan.
6. Cook sauce to desired thickness (some like this more liquid, some thicker), and serve hot with rice or bread. (It’s also lovely with pittu.)
Haven’t started a day like this in a while, with tears streaming down my face from chopping nine pungent onions. It takes a little discipline to come back to this after time away!
Why so many onions at once? Well, I’m making three curries today, to drop off to the Shef people to see if they want to take me on as one of their certified home chefs. I’m definitely not planning to do a lot of this kind of cooking, but I’d like to have the option of doing a Sri Lankan home delivery pop-up once a month, perhaps, and this is the first step in that process.
And while I could certainly chop 3 onions, sauté them, make the first curry, then go on to chop the next 3 onions, since all of these recipes will be using my standard master seasoned onions base, it’s more efficient and time-saving to do all 9 onions at once. The volume takes a little longer to chop and sauté than 3 would, but it definitely saves time over doing 3 separate batches, and there’s no loss in taste quality. Onion + mustard seed + cumin seed + ginger + garlic + vegetable oil.
NOTE: If you’re going to do this, an extra-wide large sauté pan will help you cook the onions evenly and reasonably quickly.
Next step — dividing them into three batches, and seasoning them differently going forward.
Adding seeds, coconut, and lentils to your rice boosts its nutrition as well as its flavor. If you’d like, you can use black sesame seeds instead (or a mix); black seeds retain their hulls, and have a slightly more bitter flavor and more nutrients. This savory rice is a tasty accompaniment to a fruity curry, such as pineapple, mango, or ripe jackfruit.
2 c. cooked rice
1/3 c. white sesame seeds
2 t. shredded unsweetened coconut
2 dried red chilies (plus 4 dried red chilies, broken into pieces)
2 T. vegetable oil
1/4 t. mustard seed
2 t. urad dal (black lentils)
1 t. cumin seed
1 stalk (about a dozen) curry leaves
1/2 t. salt
1. Dry roast sesame seeds in a medium sauté pan, stirring constantly on medium-high, until they start to pop; remove to a bowl.
2. In the same pan, dry roast two red chilies and the coconut, stirring constantly, until coconut is dry and lightly golden; don’t let them burn; remove to the same bowl.
3. Add oil to the pan and mustard seed. Heat, stirring occasionally, until they start to pop. Turn heat down to low; add urad dal and fry for about 25-30 seconds, stirring.
4. Add cumin seed, curry leaves, and the rest of the dried red chilies (broken up), and sauté for about 30 more seconds, stirring.
5. Add sesame seed & coconut mixture, salt, and rice to the pan, and stir until well-blended. Serve hot.
NOTE: Sesame seeds can go rancid over time — they’re generally fine in a dark, cool pantry, but if you don’t use them frequently, they should be stored in the fridge or frozen, in a tightly-sealed package. Check seeds for taste before use; if they taste sour or otherwise off, throw them out.
Ever since I had children, I’ve become a little more focused on trying to get some protein into every meal, if possible. Lentils are protein powerhouses, and these lentils don’t even require any soaking or boiling in advance — they just fry for a few minutes, and end up as crunchy little bites mixed in with the tangy tamarind rice. This rice is delicious with fried plantains, but to be honest, I often just eat it straight up, right out of the pot.
You can make fresh rice for this, but it’s also a terrific way to revive day-old rice!
2 c. cooked rice
2 T vegetable oil
1 T urad dal (black lentil)
1/2 t. black mustard seed
1/2 t. fennel seed
4 dried red chilies
1 stalk (about a dozen) fresh curry leaves
1 T cayenne
1 t. ground jaggery or brown sugar
1 t. salt
1/2 t. ground turmeric
6 T tamarind juice (1 T tamarind paste dissolved in 5 T hot water)
NOTE: This recipe moves quickly, and it’s worth having all the ingredients prepped in advance. You can measure out the whole spices into one container, and the ground spices into another, and dissolve the tamarind paste in advance.
1. Heat oil on medium-high and sauté lentil, mustard seed, cumin seed, dried chilies, curry leaves for two minutes, stirring constantly — be careful not to burn.
2. Stir in ground spices, then add tamarind juice. Bring to a boil and let simmer a few minutes, until thickened.
3. Remove from heat and stir in rice, mixing until well-blended. Serve hot!
Here’s a South Asian / Sri Lankan cuisine question, for those in the know. Here in cold Chicago, we love roasting vegetables — it brings out the flavor and the sweetness.
When I’m looking through my gazillion Sri Lankan cookbooks for recipe development, generally, roasted vegetables just aren’t a thing, which makes sense, because if you’re in a tropical country, who wants to turn an oven to 400 for an hour?
But I still kind of want to include a few roasted vegetable options, because they’re so delicious, and I can just do that, since my cookbook really tilts a bit Sri Lankan American, rather than ‘pure’ Sri Lankan, but I’m curious whether there’s any cultural precedent for roasting. I have to think that in the villages, there must be some slow-cooking of root vegetables over banked coals in fire pits, perhaps?
Thoughts? Would especially love to hear from people in Sri Lanka or who have spent time with cooks there.
This is one of the prettiest curries I make, in springtime pink, gold, and green — it’s also delicious, sunshine in a bowl. A little sweet, beautifully fruity, creamy with coconut milk, and aromatic with saffron threads. Pairs well with roasted cashews or chickpeas, a green jackfruit curry, or kale mallung.
3 T vegetable oil
1 red onion, chopped fine
1 T ginger, chopped fine
3 garlic cloves, chopped fine
1/4 tsp black mustard seed
1/4 tsp cumin seed
3 green chilies, sliced in half (reduce or skip if desired)
1 stalk curry leaves (about a dozen)
1 small pineapple, cut into chunks (about 4 cups)
1 t. salt
1 cup coconut milk
pinch of saffron threads (or 1/4 t. turmeric)
1. In a large pot, sauté onions, ginger, and garlic in oil on medium-high with mustard seed and cumin seeds until onions are golden/translucent (not brown), stirring as needed.
2. Add green chilies, curry leaves, pineapple, and salt — cook five minutes, stirring occasionally. (Add a little water if needed.)
3. Add coconut milk and saffron threads, stirring gently to combine. Turn down to medium, cover, and let cook 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally; add water if needed. Serve hot with rice or bread.
Sometimes I just want South Asian food I don’t have to cook myself. Which Kevin can actually do a good job of cooking for me, but since we’re also trying to keep our local restaurants alive, it’s a good excuse to order from Khyber Pass. Tandoori chicken, samosa chaat, lamb vindaloo, saag paneer, Goan fish curry, papadum, naan — and it comes with rice and a complimentary veggie curry. Don’t forget the mango lassi.
(makes 1 qt. soup, 15 minutes if you have curried squash on hand)
Let’s say you made a big batch of curried squash, and you eat it for a meal or two, and you still have a fair bit left, and you feel like a change. That’s the perfect time to turn your curry into soup! This also freezes well, if you’d like to make a big batch for a rainy day.
1/2 batch of Sri Lankan curried squash (recipe here).
2 c. vegetable broth
roasted cashews, sultanas, and pepitas for topping, optional
1. Combine curried squash and vegetable broth in a pot and simmer 10-15 minutes, until well blended. Taste and adjust seasonings; you may want a little more salt, pepper, or lime.
2. You can just serve it as is, homestyle, but a nice option is to blend the soup to smoothness (an immersion stick blender makes it easy; be careful if transferring hot soup into a blender).
3. Serve hot, topped with roasted cashews, sultanas, and pepitas (pumpkin seeds).
If you’re going to be roasting squash, you can quickly knock up a lovely curry sauce while the squash is cooking. This is a long list of spices, but the process is very simple — just sauté onions with seasonings, add some tang and coconut milk, and you’re basically done. Cashews add protein (and deliciousness), helping to make this a complete meal.
You can use any squash, but I think the combo of butternut and acorn is particularly delicious.
1 butternut squash
1 acorn squash
1/4 c. vegetable oil (to drizzle)
2 t. salt
2 t. pepper
2 t. jaggery or brown sugar
2 t. Sri Lankan curry powder
1/4 c. vegetable oil
2 red onions, chopped fine
1-3 green chilies, seeded and chopped
1 T ginger, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 t. black or brown mustard seed
1 t. cumin seed
1 stick cinnamon
3 cloves
3 cardamom pods
1 stalk curry leaves (about a dozen leaves)
1 c. cashew halves
1 t. tamarind paste
1 c. coconut milk
a little more curry powder and salt, to taste
lime juice, to taste
1/2 – 1 c. sultanas, optional
chopped cilantro or other greens to garnish, optional
1. Prep squash with first four seasonings and set squash to roasting, per previous recipe.
2. Sauté onions in oil on medium-high heat, stirring. Add in chilies, ginger, garlic, mustard seed, cumin seed, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom pods, curry leaves, and cashews; sauté until golden.
NOTE: If you’re not strictly vegan, it would be culturally appropriate to add 1-2 t. dried Maldive fish or something similar with the sautéing onions, which will bump up the umami component; if you do that, you may want to reduce salt.
3. Add tamarind paste and coconut milk, stir until well combined. Taste and adjust seasonings — you may want to add a little more curry powder, salt, and/or lime juice. If you want a more liquid sauce, add water and stir to blend well; if you want it thicker, let simmer to desired thickness.
4. When you’re happy with the curry sauce, add cut up roasted squash (if the squash isn’t ready yet, just turn off the heat on the sauce until it is). Roast squash should be somewhat sweet already, but I like adding in some sultanas for added pops of sweetness in the curry, to balance the tang and the spice.
Serve hot with rice or bread. Lovely with sambols and pickles.
