Sri Lankan Curry with Coriander : IHCC

"Out of India", our theme for this week at I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC), where we are currently cooking with Madhur Jaffrey recipes. I have missed two weeks of cooking with IHCC as I was busy with the Chinese New Year preparations and holidays. Now that I'm back, I am looking forward to an Indian meal and was craving for some curry. Since the theme is "Out of India", I chose a "trip to Sri Lanka", with this dish Sri Lankan Curry with Coriander.

The dry spices ; mustard seeds, coriander seeds, peppercorns and cloves are processed to fine powder. Shallots, ginger, garlic, fresh coriander and green chillies are blended with a little water to a smooth paste.

Spices left whole are the cinnamon stick and cardamom, with some fresh curry leaves and pandan leaves. Here I have used low-fat coconut milk. I have doubled up on the spices since I've cooked about 650gm of pork meat. And have used only 60ml of the coconut milk.

This is a fairly easy dish to cook. The braising of the meat takes only about an hour. The meat was ready tender and soft. This curry has a mild spiciness from the peppercorns and very fragrant from all the spices, curry leaves and pandanus leaves. A nice dish to accompany fluffy hot basmati rice. Comparing this pork curry to Red Pork Curry which I've made in December, I prefer the later, which I have cooked twice since then. 

We had this dish with Plain Basmati Rice and a vegetable dish, which I will be sharing next week.

Please visit I Heart Cooking Clubs (IHCC) to view other interesting and delicious dishes that the others have made. 

I'm sharing this with :

See Ya In The Gumbo hosted by Ms. enPlace

Full Plate Thursday hosted by Miz Helen's Country Cottage

Sri Lankan Curry with Coriander
(adapted from "100 Essential Curries" by Madhur Jaffrey)
2 teaspoons whole brown mustard seeds
1/2 tsp whole peppercorns
3 tablespoons whole coriander seeds
2 cloves
50gm shallots
1cm piece fresh ginger, peeled
3 medium garlic cloves, peeled
25gm fresh coriander
1-2 fresh hot green chillies, sliced
corn oil or peanut oil
1 medium stick cinnamon
2 whole cardamom pods
10-15 fresh curry leaves, if available
5cm length fresh or frozen pandanus leaf
450gm stewing beef, pork or lamb, cut into 2-1/2cm pieces
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
3/4-1 teaspoon salt
250ml coconut milk, shaken

Step 1 :

Put 2 teaspoons mustard seeds, 1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, 3 tablespoons coriander seeds and 2 cloves into a clean coffee grinder or other spice grinder. Grind as finely as possible. Chop the shallots, ginger, garlic and coriander and put them into a blender along with the chilli and 5 tablespoons water. Blend, pushing down as many times as needed with a rubber spatula, until you have a smooth puree.

Step 2:

Pour 3 tablespoons oil into a large non-stick, lidded pan and set over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cinnamon, cardamom pods, curry leaves and pandanus leaf. Stir for 5 seconds, then add the meat. Stir and fry until the meat is browned on all sides. Reduce the heat to medium and add the spice mixture from the coffee grinder. Stir for a minute. Now add the mixture from the blender. Stir and fry for 5 minutes. Add 600ml water, 1/2 teaspoon turmeric, lemon juice and salt. Stir to mix and bring to a simmer. Cover and cook on a very low heat for about 1 hour 20 minutes for beef, 60-80 minutes for lamb and pork. Stir once or twice during this period.

Step 3:

Add the coconut milk and heat through. Check for salt, adding a bit more if needed.

kitchen flavour's notes :
~ cooked 650gm meat, I use double the amount of spices
~ use only 60ml low-fat coconut milk