Friday, February 22, 2013

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.


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





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

23 comments:

  1. Hi Joyce,
    this curry looks so much like the Green Curry. But I am sure this Sri Lankan Curry is full of flavour and aromatic as well. Wish I am that "hard working" like you to cook this dish.

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  2. This curry looks delicious! Mouth watering! I would like it with beef.

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  3. If only we're neighbors ! I could just drop in and bring some steamed rice to go with that utterly scrumptious curry lol Oh ! Some of my Taiwanese pineapple tarts as well ;D

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  4. I can imagine the wonderful blend of flavour in this...

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  5. Joyce, this looks scrumptious! The thick greenish gravy must be quite tasty with loads of rice. Coriander is one of my favourite herbs but so far I have not been successful in planting it :(

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  6. Hi Joyce, today I've seen a few spicy dishes which makes me salivating and yours is one of them.For me this curry is very special becoz has pandan leaves in it.

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  7. Ooo, I love coriander and just because it is one of the ingredients, I know I love this dish already. Looks so delicious.

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  8. This would be so nice with a big bowl of rice! I love curries like this.

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    1. I have been to Sri Lanka, loved their cuisine but never cooked any Sri Lankan recipes. May give it a go now. One ingredient I have never seen here is fresh or frozen pandanus leaves.

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  9. That is another yummy curry dish! I really must try this too!

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  10. I love curries... and can never get sick of it...

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  11. Hi, Joyce! I love coriander, but my guys don't. Guess I'd have to eat all of this myself! Thank you for stopping by and linking this week.

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  12. I love this curry Joyce!! look yummy!

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  13. I always love Sri Lankan curries with their abundant use of coconut milk

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  14. wah sedapnya...wah wanginya..bila mo buat kasi gua makan..

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  15. wow...Sri Lanka curry, never tried it before, I must try to cook it one day

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  16. Hi Joyce,

    I love how you cook your Sri Lankan curry from scratch... the numerous kind of spices that you used are very impressive. Did you grow your own curry leaves? I wanted to but they will die during winter and so we didn't.

    Btw, Little Thumbs up theme for June is curry powder and curry paste! This dish will be perfect for this event :D

    Zoe

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  17. This sounds great with the greens! And, if they're lucky, that's even better. The orange and sesame dressing is lovely too.
    sesame seeds
    fennel seeds

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  18. Hi Joy,
    I can almost smell the wonderful aroma of this curry. I want to try it soon!
    Hope you have a fabulous week and thank you so much for sharing with Full Plate Thursday.
    Come Back Soon!
    Miz Helen

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  19. i bet this is probably even better than the north indian food that i had earlier! pandan leaf and coriander..this must be exceptionally fragrant!

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  20. Such a hearty and delicious-looking curry. I have some curry leaves in my freezer I need to use up and love to see the Jaffrey recipes that use them. ;-)

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