Sri Lankan green bean curry
Green beans are gently cooked in a mild, warming spiced coconut sauce in this beautiful Sri Lankan recipe from Kolamba in Soho. It’s also quick and simple to cook, although it’s well worth making the curry leaf oil the night before, too – the way the green oil floats on the surface of the coconut milk is beautiful (and will earn you serious cheffy brownie points too).
Discover more delicious Sri Lankan recipes from the brilliant restaurant Kolamba in Soho here.
Ingredients
- 250g of green beans , trimmed and cut into 5cm pieces
- vegetable oil, for frying
- 2 garlic cloves , finely sliced
- 2 banana shallots , finely chopped
- 2 green chillies , finely chopped
- 1 cinnamon stick , 5cm long
- 1 tomato , small, diced
- 1 sprig of curry leaves , plus extra to garnish
- 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 400ml of coconut milk , (1 tin)
- salt
- crispy shallots , to garnish
Curry leaf oil (optional)
- 1 bunch of curry leaves
- 50g of rapeseed oil
Method
1
Begin by making the curry leaf oil, as this will take a few hours to strain. Place the curry leaves and vegetable oil in a blender and blitz at a high speed for several minutes until the oil turns green. Pour the contents of the blender into a muslin cloth hung over a bowl and leave to strain
2
Add a dash of vegetable oil to a saucepan and fry the shallots, garlic, chillies, cinnamon and sprig of curry leaves for 5 minutes until soft. Add the diced tomato and cook for a further 5 minutes
3
Add the green beans, chilli flakes, cumin, turmeric and pepper and cook gently for 5 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and simmer for a few more minutes. If you'd like a drier curry with a thicker sauce, simply add less coconut milk
4
Season to taste, then transfer to a serving bowl. Top with crispy shallots, extra curry leaves (ideally fried in a little oil until crisp) and finish with a drizzle of the curry leaf oil
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Sri Lankan green bean curry
