We loved so many things about our time in Sri Lanka in 2016 – the people, the surf, the wildlife and the exotic scenery. However, it was the delicious food that really stayed with us. We ate curry for breakfast, curry for lunch and curry for dinner for over three weeks, and when we landed in London we were surprisingly still craving curry!
Some of our favourite Sri Lankan dishes were discovered during our stay at the Ebb & Flow Jungalows in Midigama. Their local chef, Indika, prepares every meal for each Jungalow, and his vegetarian curries were our favourites. Some, like Banana Flower curry, are not so easy to attempt outside of the tropics, but two of our all time favourites were his Pumpkin Curry and Sri Lankan Dahl. Indika shared his recipes with us, and we still use his pumpkin curry recipe today more than 7 years later. Below is the recipe.
Sri Lankan Pumpkin Curry:
-750 grams of Pumpkin chopped into cubes
-2 x cloves of garlic
-2 x red onions sliced
-1 x cinnamon stick
-1.5 x tsp turmeric powder
-1 x tsp mustard cream (we substituted spicy mustard as we could not find Sri Lankan Mustard Cream)
-3 x green chillies (Thai chillies are best)
-1 x small bunch of fresh curry leaves (Karapincha)
-1 x Bay leaf
-1 x Tbsp raw brown sugar
-3 cups of Coconut Cream
-2 x cups water
-large pinch of Salt (or more to taste)
-2 Tbsp of oil
Heat oil in a large pot. Add curry leaves, onion, garlic, chilli and saute lightly. Add pumpkin and stir for 5-10 minutes. Add water. Add turmeric powder, mustard cream and cinnamon. Reduce down to half. Add coconut cream, salt and sugar. Reduce to thicken. Serve with steamed rice and dahl.
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