Sri Lankan Fish or Chicken Curry with Aromatic Rice
INGREDIENTS
- 1kg fish or 1 whole chicken, jointed
- Marinating ingredients:
- 10g roasted curry powder
- 5g ground turmeric
- 1g medium chili powder
- ¼ tsp white pepper
- 1 teaspoon flaky salt
- 1 stick lemon grass, bottom third crushed with mallet (keep remainder to flavour the rice)
- For the curry:
- 30g grated ginger
- 30g chopped garlic
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 medium onions, diced
- 2 red chilli, seeded and diced finely
- 5 fresh curry leaves
- 5g yellow mustard seeds, crushed
- 1 tablespoon brown vinegar
- For the rice:
- 2 cups water
½teaspoon salt
½ cinnamon stick
Top 2/3 of lemongrass
5 cardamom pods, crushed gently
10 saffron threads
3 whole cloves
1 cup basmati or jasmine rice
METHOD
Skin the fish and if you are using chicken, cut into desired size. In a medium bowl combine the marinating ingredients, mix well and add the fish/chicken. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours.
Using a mortar and pestle, grind the ginger, garlic and salt to a paste. Heat the oil in a heavy based pan and on low heat sauté the onion, ginger garlic paste, chili and curry leaves for 10 minutes or until the onion is caramelised. Stir through the mustard and sauté for 3 minutes.
Add the fish/chicken, 2 cups of water and the vinegar and cook on low heat, with the lid on, for 15 minutes for fish and 30 minutes for chicken. Towards the end of the cooking, remove the lid to evaporate the liquid to create a thickish sauce. Season with salt if desired.
In a saucepan combine the water and aromatics and bring to the boil. Add the rice, give it a stir and cover. Turn the gas down to very low and cook the rice for 10 minutes or until the rice has absorbed all of the liquid.
