The Last Curry





Friday 14/10/2005

 Email JCBorresen@GMail.com

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Diary and Notes

It's a bit like the 15th of August 1947, a very important day indeed - very important in the history of curry that is.

So what's today's dinner got to do with a day all those years ago? Indian independence - soon the curry will be gone and will be no more.

Yes, it's my last noshblog curry. I know I can still have curry after today but it just wont be the same. It will be like Earl Mountbattan visiting India after 1947 - it will still be the same country but everything will have changed. I'm quite sad really.

For my last curry I could have gone out for dinner but decided to make this one myself - and what a treat it was. Sri Lankan food is really one of the great undiscovered gems of world cuisine. Very much Indian in flavour but with hints of other cultures too. An old Sri Lankan guy I once knew said that Britain and Sri Lanka were very similar. Both were islands with a long trading history (and a history of warring with their neighbours) and had absorbed the culture of everyone around them and made these things there own. As such there are similarities with Indian food but also influences from the Orient - making a Sri Lankan curry something very special indeed.

The most famous Sri Lankan dish has to be Kakuluwo or crab curry but as I couldn't find any crab I bought a selection of other shellfish and used these instead.

This was a really quite excellent curry - quite one of the best for ages. It's nice to go out on a high and I wouldn't want ot have a flop to end it all. I'm not sure which was the best of the 60 or so curries I've eaten this year but this has to be on the top ten. More curry next Friday probably as is my religion - I am an Englishman.


Cake Blog

Thornton's Toffee Cake Bar: Not as good as their hazelnut cake bars but still better than no cake at all.


Menu

  • Sri Lankan Seafood Curry
  • Pilau Rice
  • Fried Plaintain
  • Tomato Raita


    Ingredients*

    Sri Lankan Seafood Curry
    250g Shelled Mussels
    250g Tiger Prawns
    250g Crayfish Tails
    3 Medium Potatoes
    1 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
    1 Large Onion
    3cm Ginger
    6 Hot Green Chillis
    6 Cloves Garlic
    1 tsp Hot Chilli Powder
    2 tsp Tamarind Paste
    150ml Coconut Milk
    1 tsp Cumin
    1 tsp Mustard Seeds
    2 tsp Coriander Powder
    ½ tsp White Pepper
    ½ tsp Black Pepper
    ½ tsp Fennel Seeds
    1 Tbsp Tomato Puree
    1 Tbsp Hot Curry Paste
    2 tsp Garam Masala
    3 Mild Green Chillis (for garnish)



    Preparation

  • Slice the onions, mince the garlic & ginger and chop the chillis. Fry the onions until turning brown in a little oil then add the chillis, garlic, fennel, mustard seeds, pepper and chilli powder. Fry gently for a few minutes then stir in the curry paste and fry a minute more. Add the tomato puree, coriander, cumin, tamarind and coconut milk and simmer gently. While the sauce is infusing peel and chop the potatoes into chunks and boil gently in water until just turning soft (don't let them go mushy). When the potatoes are cooked drain and add to the curry, then stir in the seafood. Cook for a few minutes to warm through then stir in the garam masala and serve garnished with chillis.

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    *All quantities are very approximate and for three people