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Chicken Curry with Daal, Coconut Sambal and Coconut Roti
Recipe by Dee Williams
Dee’s transports Mum’s Chicken Curry to the MasterChef kitchen. Full of authentic Sri Lankan flavour, it is absolutely unmissable.
- Steps
- Ingredients
Ingredients
Coconut Roti
Sri Lankan Chicken Curry
Dhal Curry
Coconut Sambal
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Steps
- For the Coconut Roti, place the flour, coconut and a pinch of salt into a medium bowl and mix together with a fork. Add the onion and curry leaves and stir through.
- Add 75 - 100ml of water and mix together to form a soft dough. Transfer the dough to a lightly floured work surface and knead briefly until smooth. Divide into four evenly sized portions and roll into balls. Coat each ball in coconut oil then roll out thinly into rounds. Cover with a tea towel and set aside.
- When ready to serve, place a large frypan over medium heat. When hot, add one roti dough to the pan and cook on each side until golden and crispy, about 4 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside, covered loosely with foil to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- For the Sri Lankan Chicken Curry, place all of the spices, except the mustard seeds, along with the dried whole chilli into a small frypan and place over a medium heat. Cook, stirring, until toasted and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Transfer the spices to a small food processor and process to a fine powder. Add ¼ of the chopped onion, 2 cloves garlic, ½ of the ginger, 1 sprig curry leaves and blend to a smooth paste. Set aside.
- Heat a large wok over medium high heat. Add the coconut oil and once hot, add the remaining onion, garlic, ginger, curry leaves and the fresh chilli to the frypan and fry until golden brown. Add the mustard seeds and fry until the mustard seeds begin to pop.
- Add the paste to the wok and cook it until darkened, about 4 minutes. Add 150ml water, coconut milk and salt and bring to a simmer.
- Add the chicken pieces to the wok and cook, turning the chicken in the sauce until chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced, about 25 minutes. Add the lime juice and salt, to taste. Remove from the heat and cover to keep warm.
- For the Dahl Curry, heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and curry leaves and fry, stirring regularly, until golden brown. Add the mustard seeds and fry until mustard seeds begin to pop.
- Reduce the heat to low. Add the lentils, 150ml coconut milk, turmeric, chilli powder, salt and 500ml water and cook, stirring occasionally, until the lentils are almost tender, about 8-10 minutes. Add the remaining 100ml coconut milk and cook for further 3-5 minutes until the lentils are tender. Remove from the heat, season with salt and cover to keep warm.
- For the Coconut Sambal, place the garlic, peppercorns, chilli flakes and salt into a large mortar and crush with a pestle to a rough paste. Add the coconut and pound until ingredients are combined. Add the lime juice and stir through. Spoon into the coconut half and set aside.
- To serve, place a toasted banana leaf onto a large serving platter. Place the Coconut Roti to one side. Add the Coconut Sambal and bowls of the Chicken Curry and Dahl Curry. Garnish with fresh and fried curry leaves and the fried red chillies.
