About this Dish
Sri Lanka's defining meal — steamed rice surrounded by an array of small curries, sambols and chutneys eaten simultaneously. Each curry uses coconut milk and curry leaves — the defining flavours of Sri Lankan cooking. The colour of the curry powder distinguishes Sri Lanka from India: raw (unroasted) curry powder for mild dishes, roasted for deep, dark curries.
IngredientsServes 4
🍚Samba or basmati rice, 2 cups washed
🍗Chicken thighs, 500g bone-in, cut into pieces
🥥Coconut milk, 400ml full fat tin
🌿Fresh curry leaves, 2 sprigs
🧅Red onion, 1 large finely sliced
🌶️Green chillies, 2 slit lengthways
🧄Garlic, 4 cloves crushed
🫚Coconut oil, 2 tablespoons
🟤Roasted Sri Lankan curry powder, 2 tablespoons
🧂Salt, 1 teaspoon, plus pandan leaf if available
Method
1
Cook the rice by simmering it with a pandan leaf in lightly salted water until just tender, then fluff with a fork and keep covered — the pandan leaf adds a delicate floral note that is very Sri Lankan.2
Heat the coconut oil in a wide pan over medium heat and fry the sliced red onion, curry leaves, and slit green chillies for about 5 minutes until the onion softens and turns golden at the edges.3
Add the crushed garlic and stir for one minute, then add the roasted curry powder and fry for another minute so the spices bloom in the oil and smell deeply fragrant — this dark roasted powder is what gives the curry its rich, almost smoky colour.4
Add the chicken pieces and stir well to coat every piece in the spiced onion mixture, cooking on medium-high heat for 5 minutes to seal and lightly brown the chicken.5
Pour in the coconut milk along with a good pinch of salt, stir gently, then reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 25–30 minutes until the chicken is fully cooked and the sauce thickens into a rich, clinging gravy.6
Taste and adjust salt, then serve the chicken curry in a small bowl alongside a mound of steamed rice, and accompany it with a coconut sambol — simply mix desiccated coconut, a little chilli flakes, lime juice and salt — to build a proper Sri Lankan rice and curry plate.7
Serve the rice in the centre of a large plate and arrange the curry around it — eat everything together with your right hand, mixing rice and curry in small portions as you go.User Reviews
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