To break up the travel planning, I’m including a Sri Lankan recipe this week. Whilst we can’t travel, we can create a bit of Sri Lanka wherever we’re locked down. This is a delicious and simple to make curry shared by a Sri Lankan friend who used to work at Women’s Development Centre (WDC) in Kandy. It was passed down from Dharshani’s grandmother, who sadly died when her daughter, Sriya, (Dharshani’s mother) was only 18. And Dharshani learnt to make the curry from her mother and has made it ever since.

I couldn’t resist ordering a few of the special ingredients such as roasted Sri Lanka curry powder and cardamom pods ready to make it myself. The result is in the pictures below. Here’s Dharshani’s recipe and method if you too would like to give it a go.

Ingredients

• 750g of chicken (to make the curry yummier, get drumsticks or thighs)
• 3-4 tablespoons of coconut oil
• Half a red or yellow onion (if it’s small one, use the whole onion)
• 1 medium sized tomato finely chopped
• 1 tsp of ginger paste (you can replace this with whole ginger)
• 1 tbs of garlic paste (you can replace this with finely chopped garlic)
• Curry leaves (5 to 6 fresh or dried leaves)
• 2-3 cardamom pods (pressed) 
• Cinnamon stick (1 to 2 inch long)
• Half to one tbs chilli powder depending on how spicy you like it. You can also try to use 0.5 tbs of chilli powder and a little bit of smoked paprika powder to get the colour. If you are using cayenne chilli powder, make sure you use a very small amount)
• 0.75 tbs of roasted Sri Lankan curry powder
• Salt and pepper (for marination
• 1/4 tsp of turmeric (for marination)
• Ginger powder (for marination)
• Garlic powder (for marination)
• 1 to 1.5 cups of water (you can also check how much gravy you need and adjust the water level according to your preference. If you feel the mixture is too spicy, add a little bit of coconut milk while cooking.)
• Chopped coriander

Method

1. First marinate chicken pieces with salt, pepper, garlic powder, ginger powder and turmeric. Keep the marinated chicken in the fridge for about half an hour. 
2. Grind the ginger and garlic paste, together with chopped onion, curry leaves, and tomato and keep aside. 
3. Heat coconut oil in a saucepan (low flame) and when hot, add the cinnamon stick, and cardamom pods.
4. As they get a little brown in colour, add the grinded paste to the oil (don’t let it burn). It should not be fried for long, just mix it a bit with a spoon until you get a nice aroma from the spice mix.
5. Then add chilli powder and curry powder. Since this might get burned too fast, keep an eye on it. Once these ingredients are added and mixed, it should become a nice dark brown colour. 
6. Now, add the chicken and mix it well and add just a little bit of water and then cover. 
7. Check from time to time to make sure it does not burn. Add the rest of the water (if you don’t like too much gravy, you can add less water for the consistency) and bring it to a boil on medium heat. 
8. You can add more salt to taste after checking the chicken curry and if it is too spicy, add a little coconut milk. 
9. Once the curry is brought to boil, cook it for a few more minutes on a low flame to make sure that the chicken is well cooked.
10. Serve with cooked rice or Indian flat bread and cucumber salad and sprinkle or lavish it with fresh coriander.

NB: You can replace the chicken with lamb, fish or boiled eggs

The verdict – it was delicious and the aromas and mix of spices made it feel like we were back in Sri Lanka for a while! I had it for supper the day after making it too, and it was even better then as the spices had fully worked their way into the chicken.

Hope you’re inspired to give it a try! Let me know in the comment box below how it works out. Or share it with someone you know may like it. Dharshani and her Mum will be delighted!

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