Pumpkin curry wattaka kalu pol (Sri Lanka)

Ingredients

2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 medium red onions, finely sliced
2 sprigs curry leaves
4 garlic cloves, finely sliced
3 long green chillies, sliced
½ tsp black mustard seeds, ground
½ tsp fenugreek seeds
1 kg pumpkin, cut into cubes, skin left on
1 tsp seeded mustard
2 tbsp dark roasted curry powder
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
1–2 tspsalt
500 ml (2 cups) coconut milk
2 tbsp short-grain rice, plus extra, cooked, to serve
⅓ cupdesiccated coconut

Cook's notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large saucepan and add the onion, curry leaves, garlic and green chilli. Fry briefly then add the mustard and fenugreek seeds and continue frying.

Quickly toss the pumpkin in a bowl with the seeded mustard, ground spices and salt and add to the pan along with the coconut milk. Bring to the boil and cook over high heat until the pumpkin is tender.

Meanwhile, heat a small frying pan and dry-fry the rice and coconut until brown and fragrant. Grind to a powder in a mortar or blender.

Add the rice and coconut powder to the curry and cook for a few more minutes. Serve with rice.


Sri Lankan recipe featured on SBS Food Safari Sri Lanka

Green Banana and Eggplant Curry

Today we got green bananas in our organic veggie box - in fact, the whole thing was more fruit than veggies as this is summer and summer's all about fruit. So here's an alluringly tropical fresh and fruity curry. I believe this recipe is Sri Lankan but I can't remember which recipe book I adapted this one from - I 'veganized' it as the original had both yoghurt and cream - too heavy for summer anyway, no? I used fresh coconut in my recipe tonight but to be honest, the subtle flavour of it find of got lost in this dish so unless you have plenty of fresh coconuts to hand, I suggest when you get fresh ones you enjoy as-is or marinated as a side dish as I did the other night. 2 T peanut oil 2 t mustard seeds 1 t coriander 1 t cumin seeds 4 cardamom pods, lightly crushed 3 T desicated coconut 2 cloves of garlic, peeled, crushed 1 t chilli flakes 1 t salt (I completely forgot to add this and it was delicious so cut down/ cut out salt if you can) 2-3 large green bananas or plantains, peeled and sliced into 1 inch pieces 2 medium eggplants, cut into 2cm cubes 30 fresh curry leaves 200ml vegetable stock (I used some homemade vegetable broth I had in the freezer - very handy) 2 t tamarind paste (I was actually out of this so substituted pomegranate paste which worked well too) juice of 1 lime 1/4 c flaked almonds 1/4 c spring onions finely sliced or a herb like mint or coriander Heat oil in wok or deep saucepan, add seeds and cardamom and fry over moderate heat till fragrant. Add coconut, garlic, chilli and salt and gently fry till coconut is golden. spices banana and coconut before adding the eggplant Add bananas and fry 20 seconds, then add eggplant and curry leaves and fry another 20 seconds, stirring well. Add stock and tamarind paste and bring to the boil. Cover and simmer until bananas are just cooked, about 15 minutes. If the curry dries out, add some boiling water. Stir in lime juice and check seasoning. Serve with basmati rice cooked with a little lemon zest. I also cooked mine with a sprinkling of wild rice (black seeds that turn the rice pleasantly purple). And do you like the plane and heart decorations I made from the banana skin? No? Well, I'm not baking much at the moment and just really wanted to use my cookie cutters!