An authentic Sri-Lankan feast

I recently bought a clay pot also called a chatty. So I thought it might be an opportune time to make an authentic style curry.  For those lucky enough to grow up with parents making curries, the age old question becomes how much spices do I add? I've asked my mum several times and without fail she adds a sprinkling of this a dash of that. Off course nothing is measured out. So for us novices starting out in the world of curry this can often become quite intimidating. 

I stumbled across this recipe from the SBS website. I was a little skeptical at first after all who actually measures the quantity of curry powder?  But I thought I would stick  to the measurements outlined in the recipe and see if in fact it works. Lo and behold this recipe is fail proof. Its tasty and relatively simply to make so now you never have an excuse not to make curry from scratch! Off course you can always substitute any meat for the chicken, think of this recipe as your starting point.

But to truly make a Sri -Lankan feast you need a vegetable too. So I've shown you a quick and easy way, inspired from Peter Kuruvita. Again you can substitute most vegetables from this recipe.

I have finished off with string hoppers.  For those that are not familiar with this, its almost like a vermicelli noodle carved into a circular lattice.  Once you have the right kitchen equipment its relatively easy to make.  

Enjoy the recipes!

Chicken curry 

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil 
• ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds ("uluhal")
• 10 curry leaves on the stem
• 2 large onions, finely chopped 
• 4–5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tsp minced
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp chilli powder  
• 1 tbsp ground coriander 
• ½ tsp ground fennel 
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp sweet paprika 
• 2 tsp salt 
• 2 tbsp vinegar 
• 2 tomatoes, chopped 
• 6 cardamom pods, cracked 
• 1 cinnamon stick 
• 1 lemongrass stalk, bruised 
• 1 pandan leaf, folded 
• 1 kg chicken thighs on the bone ("chicken cutlet"), skin removed 
• 250 ml thick coconut milk
• squeeze of lemon juice

Method

1. Heat the oil and fry the fenugreek seeds and curry leaves until the leaves start to brown. 
2. Add the onion, garlic and ginger and fry gently until the onion is soft and translucent.
3. Add the ground spices, salt and vinegar and stir well. 
4. Add the tomato, whole spices, lemongrass and pandan leaf, then add the chicken. 
5. Stir to coat the chicken pieces in the spices, then cover and cook over low heat for 40–50 minutes. The curry will look dry at first (see below) but liquid will be released from the chicken as you cook it. 

6. Stir in the coconut milk and taste for salt. Add a squeeze of lemon juice if desired.

Bean curry 

Ingredients

• 350g beans, cut lengthways
• 2 small green chillis, sliced
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes
• 1 sprig of fresh curry leaves
• 1/4 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1/2 tsp fennel seeds
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• thick coconut milk

Method

1. Toss the beans with all the ingredients, except the oil and coconut milk
2. Heat the oil and then add the bean mixture. 
3. Once the bean mixture has softened add the coconut milk.
4. Season with salt.

String Hoppers

Ingredients

• String hopper mold (see silver mold below)
• String hopper wattie (woven small circle trays)
• 2 cups roasted red or white rice flour (I like to use a combination of both)
• Salt 
• 3 cups boiled water

Method

1. In a dry bowl take two cups roasted rice flour 
2. Add 1 tsp table salt, mix well.
3. Boil 3 cups of water. Gradually add the boiling water to rice flour until you can form a dough that does not stick to the bowl (see consistency below). 
4. Fill the mold with dough and squeeze the fine strings of flour on to the watties to form lacy circles. 
5. Stack the watties on top of each other and steam until done.