This two hundred year old recipe, a Sri Lankan Mixed Vegetable Curry, is inspired by a popular restaurant in Colombo. It has a nice level of spice, creaminess with the coconut milk, and a great texture with all kinds of different vegetables.
“If I’m an advocate for anything, it’s to move. As far as you can see, as much as you can. Across the ocean or simply across the river. The extent you can walk in someone else’s shoes, or atleast eat their food, it’s a plus for everybody. Open your mind, get up of the couch, and move.” Anthony Bourdain.
Anthony Bourdain was special. What a loss!
Bourdain did not see travel as only sustenance, but as respect, as comfort, and as learning. Travel makes you open your heart to culture and to their hearts. To travel is to feel alive. That’s what Anthony Bourdain taught me. I’ve read his books, watched his shows, but it was around 2015 when he came to Bay Area for his show, Parts Unknown, that I fell in love. He was legit. I watched his show even more intently, listened and saw his passion. “Anyone who doesn’t have a great time in San Francisco is pretty much dead to me,” Bourdain said. He was also brutally honest in his observations, telling it like it is.
We travel for food. We travel to experience the culture. Along the years, you stop planning your trips around monuments and the most clicked places and start going to places with soul, the un-visited, the place that’s ready to bloom. Sri Lanka was a place I’ve wanted to go for the longest time now.
SRI LANKA
She’s exotic, she’s tolerant, and she’s elegant.
Formerly known as Ceylon, now Srilanka has seen twenty years of civil war and a fragile ceasefire which should have left more obvious scars, but it all seems implausibly peaceful. It isn’t what I expected.
It turns out, that my preconceived notions were just that. I was surprised. This is one of the reasons why traveling fascinates me so much: each culture is unique, including the concept of beauty.
The old soul in me likes to go to the unvisited places, the hole in the wall eateries, and enjoy the little things. We did just that, and we’ll be back here soon.
And how can I not write about the unforgettable food. Meals of fresh Sri Lankan fish, exotic fruit and curries keep energy levels high; nothing like I’ve ever tasted. Their blend of spices is unique to their country and has a distinct taste, such as in their coconut based curries.
I was thankful that I could tour this gorgeous country with my beautiful friend Gayatri from CULINARY NIRVANA. We’re both lovers of food and culture, took in everything we could, and bottled it up as our precious memories. Sri Lanka, thanks for treating us well.
One morning, we set out to see what Colombo (the capital) had to offer. For most of the morning we drove, and we shopped locally for the rest. We were famished around noon time and stopped by one of the most popular joints advised by our trip adviser and many sites, “a must eat place”. Walking inside felt like a 1950’s old home was transformed into this lovely gorgeous eatery. We were seated immediately and given a menu card to choose from.
To our dismay, the menu read: fries, leeks and prawn quiche, yellow coconut thai curry, grilled prawns on top of mashed potato and it went on… We were not impressed. Hangry, we raised our eyebrows and decided we were not eating there. We didn’t come all the way to Sri Lanka to eat this. Out of sheer courtesy, we ordered fresh coconut water and decided to hunt down an authentic Sri Lankan restaurant. Out of sheer luck (and persistence) we found Upali’s. We drove up twenty minutes, hunger and all. We were welcomed with the brightest of smiles and without wasting a single moment, immediately ordered our second fresh coconut water. Our eyes immediately zoomed on to the 200 year old recipe Curry on the menu, and we knew we had to have it.
After a few minutes, piping hot curry, red rice and a chicken dish was served. Our hunger had stretched quite a bit, and we couldn’t wait another second. I served both of us the curry with some rice. One bite, and I knew I had never eaten any curry like this. It was super flavorful, and we could not figure out what was in it. As soon as our waiter came, we held him for few minutes and drilled him with questions. He was very obliging, and happily went back to the chef and came to us and gave us a short and sweet recipe. He specifically mentioned that it had ten different vegetables. Looking at my friend, told her, “I don’t think that recipe is complete, and why would they give away their recipe anyway?”
We let it go. It was in my notes, but not out of my mind.
I finally made the Sri Lankan Mixed Vegetable Curry
A couple of months passed, and I could not forget that mixed vegetable curry. I went back to my notes and decided to try it out. I did a bit more research on how the curries were made (thanks to YouTube) and one day went for it. Voila, it was pretty darn close. This curry is traditionally served with red rice. You can use a combination of these vegetable, which is the authentic version, or you can omit one or the other. I tried it couple more times with more of this and less of that, and I was impressed.
Silently, I said sorry for not trusting the waiter and the chef. They truly were lovers of food for sharing this authentic Sri Lankan Mixed Vegetable Curry.
So here’s to the chef that inspired my travelling for food.
- 2 eggplant, quartered
- 7-8 garlic
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 3 green chillies
- 1 cup Beans, cut to 1 inch pieces
- 1 cup cluster beans
- ⅓ cup Cashews, soaked in water for an hour
- 2 Raw Banana, diced
- ½ cup Mushrooms(optional)
- ½ cup pumpkin cubes(leave it if you don't find it)
- 2 Raw Banana, diced
- Fresh Coconut milk, 1 cup
- ½ cup light tamarind juice from a small lime sized ball of tamarind pulp
- 2 tsp Srilankan spicy curry powder
- ¼ cup Green peas
- 1 cup packed Spinach
- 1 tsp salt, or as needed
- ⅓ tsp turmeric
- ½ tsp brown sugar(if you are not using the pumpkin)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- ½ tsp mustard seeds
- ¼ tsp cumin seeds
- 10 curry leaves
- Cinnamon Stick – 3’ inch
- Cloves – ½ tsp
- Curry Leaves – 10
- Coriander seeds / Dhaniya – 2 tsp
- Fennel / Sombu – 1 tsp
- Turmeric Powder – ½ tsp
- Cumin – 1 tsp
- Raw Rice – 1 tbsp (You can use Basmati Rice)
- Fenugreek / Vendhayam – ½ tsp
- Cardamom – 2
- Pepper – ½ tsp
- Dry Red Chilly – 3
- Mustard / Kadugu – ½ tsp
- Keep a small pot filled with oil and deep fry the eggplant and garlic in batches. Set aside.
- In a sauce pan or pot, add the oil. Let it get hot. Add the green chilies. Let it cook in the oil for a minute. After that, add the chopped beans and cluster beans. Saute and cook for 3-4 minutes until it is 50 percent cooked. Add the cashews and the raw banana slices. Salt the veggies and add the turmeric powder. Saute and cook it for 2-3 minutes more. Let the raw banana get some color. Once the raw banana and beans have cooked 90%, about 5-8 minutes, add the tamarind water and let it boil for 2 minutes. Once the tamarind has boiled for few minutes, add the coconut milk, curry powder and simmer and boil for another 2-3 minutes. Add the green peas and chopped spinach. Add 1 cup of water, check for salt and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Turn off the heat and add ½ tsp brown sugar. Mix well.
- In a small pan, add oil and add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and curry leaves, let it pop and add it immediately to the curry.
- Take a flat bottomed pan and roast the raw rice for about 3 minutes on low flame until it is golgen brown. Remove and set aside. Roast all the other spices one by one and be careful not to burn Cool the roasted spices and grind along with roasted rice into a very fine powder.
- Store in a dark bottle for about 3 months.
- You can use it for any Sri Lankan curries.
This Mixed Vegetable Curry from Sri Lanka is something I’ve never had before, it’s like none other. It’s very uniquely flavored. If you try this specialty of Sri Lanka, please let me know on social media.
What a wonderful curry! I love curry, but can’t tell the difference among all the different kinds of curries. I just know they are flavourful and delicious. If I didn’t see these two small eggplants on your picture, I would probably thought you meant 2 big chubby eggplants that you usually get from the ALDI.
You probably have to taste it to see the difference. It’s completely different from Indian curries. This one in particular needs the Sri Lankan spice powder. So good.
I just read the whole post, beautiful post Asha. 🙂