Sri Lankan Green Bean Curry Recipe
by Kolamba, Soho
2
30 minutes
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