Sri Lankan Potato Curry
It’s worth making your own batch of Sri Lankan curry powder. It takes ten minutes and will keep in the fridge in a jar for three months.
SERVES
4
PEOPLE
PREP TIME
15
MINUTES
COOKING TIME
30
MINUTES
Ingredients
4 medium potatoes – 600g approx
3 tbsp onions or shallots, finely chopped
1 large garlic clove minced
3 pieces of pandan leaves (about 10cm each)
1 sprig of fresh curry leaves
1 green chili sliced
1⁄4 tsp turmeric powder
1⁄2 tsp curry powder * (see below)
1⁄8 tsp fenugreek seeds
3⁄4 tsp salt (adjust to your taste)
225ml water (you may need more or less)
350ml thick coconut milk
3 drops of freshly squeezed lime juice (optional)
For the curry powder
30g coriander seeds
15g cumin seeds
15g fennel seeds
15g black peppercorns
2 tbsp coconut or vegetable oil
8-10 fresh curry leaves
70g dried Kashmiri or medium hot red chillies
¼ tsp ground turmeric
Method
To make your curry powder: In a dry pan over a low-medium heat, roast the coriander, cumin, fennel and black peppercorns for 1-2 minutes, stirring regularly, until they begin to be really fragrant, then pour them into a bowl.
Add the oil to the pan and cook the curry leaves and dried chillies for 2-3 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat and when cool, blitz in a spice grinder or food processor until fine – blitz in batches if needs be.
Stir in the turmeric and store in a jam jar.
Wash and peel the medium size potatoes (a waxy type like Yukon gold potatoes is preferred). Cut them into quarters or to 6 pieces of your potatoes are on the bigger side. Make sure all the potatoes are roughly equal in size.
Then put them into a deep saucepan.
Add all the ingredients except the water, thick coconut milk, and lime juice.
Then add your water and mix well. You might want to adjust the amount of water depending on the vessel and the number of potatoes you use.
Cook covered until the potatoes are fork-tender. This means you should be able to poke the potatoes with a fork without much resistance. It’s okay to have about 50ml of water left. If you have more water than that then increase the heat and leave the pot uncovered and let the water evaporate.
If your potatoes are still not cooked and all your water has evaporated then add some water, cover the pot, and cook until potatoes are tender.
Do not overcook your potatoes otherwise, they will become mush. So, keep an eye on them and check the doneness of your potatoes from time to time.
Now lower the heat and add your thick coconut milk.
Mix gently without breaking your potatoes. Bring the coconut milk to simmer. And then keep gently mixing the curry continuously for about 5 mins without breaking the potatoes so your coconut milk wouldn’t curdle. Make sure you taste the curry and adjust the salt too.
Turn off the heat and keep stirring it gently until the curry cools down a little bit.
Then squeeze a few drops of lime juice (this step is totally optional), it thickens up the curry just a little bit more, helps to cut through the creaminess.
