Sri Lankan Vegetable Curry.
This curry is so vibrant from all the vegetables, yet filling and comforting from the lentils and chickpeas. The recipe below is pretty mild, but you can take the heat up by adding more fresh chilli to the paste, or as a garnish at the end. It’s keeps really well in the fridge and even tastes better after a couple of days, so it’s the perfect meal-prep recipe. Just cook some rice and you’re good to go!
Serves 6-8
Note: this makes a big batch so i’d recommend using your biggest saucepan!
Equipment.
sharp knife & chopping board
very large saucepan with lid
food processor
small frying pan
pestle & mortar/spice grinder
vegetable peeler
seive
Ingredients.
Paste:
2 tbsp curry leaves, dried
1.5 tsp salt
1 onion, peeled and cut in half
1 red chilli, with seeds
5cm piece of ginger, washed
4 garlic cloves, peeled
2 large vine tomatoes, quartered
Spice Blend:
2 tbsp coriander seeds
1 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black peppercorns
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp fenugreek seeds
4 whole cloves
5 green cardamom pods
5cm stick of cinnamon
Everything else:
3 tbsp coconut oil, or any neutral oil
3 tbsp spice blend, above
½ tbsp turmeric
1 can coconut milk
500ml vegetable stock
200g red lentils
100g green beans
400g butternut squash, about 1/2 a squash
150g baby spinach
1 orange/yellow pepper, deseeded
1 large carrot, or 2 small ones
2 tins chickpeas
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp white wine vinegar, or lime juice
To Serve: rice, fresh chilli, fresh coriander
Method.
Cover the red lentils with cold water and leave to soak until needed
Put all the ingredients for the paste into a food processor/blender and blend until a course paste
Add the coconut oil into a large pan (with a lid) and add the paste. Fry on the highest setting for a few minutes to cook out the water from the onions and tomatoes
Then turn the heat down to medium and continue to fry the paste until the onions become sweet and caramelised. This should take about 20mins total
Meanwhile, measure out the spices for the spice blend and toast them in a hot dry pan for 3-5 mins. Remove from the pan and allow to cool slightly before grinding in a spice grinder/pestle and mortar. Set aside (the spice recipe makes more than this recipe needs so you will have roughly half leftover for a future curry)
Prepare the vegetables: Peel the squash and cut into approx. 2cm cubes. Trim the green beans and cut into roughly 3cm lengths. Cut both the pepper and carrot into 2cm chunks. Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Roughly chop the baby spinach, Drain and rinse the lentils.
Add 2.5tbsp spice blend to the paste and stir to combine
Add all the remaining ingredients to the pan (apart from the spinach) along with 500ml water, and bring to a simmer
Put the lid on and continue to simmer for 25-30mins, or until the vegetable are soft. Check & stir periodically to ensure its not burning
Finally, add the spinach and cook for 1-2mins until wilted
Serve on white rice with some extra fresh chilli and coriander
