This weeks seed to plate recipe transports us back to the bustling streets of Sri Lanka. In January, we spent a few weeks exploring the south of this amazing country and were lucky enough to taste some mouth watering food and learn some incredible home recipes. From the farm this week, we have some beautiful rainbow chard which works perfectly with the creamy rich coconut flavour which is found throughout Sri Lankan cuisine. This recipe uses tinned coconut milk but you could always make your own if you can get your hands on some fresh coconut. High in the Sri Lankan hill country town of Ella we were shown how to ‘milk a coconut’ by first scraping out the flesh and then squeezing with a splash of water to produce the most amazing tasting coconut milk we’ve ever tried. Special coconut scraping kitchen tools are commonplace in Sri Lankan kitchens (essentially a piece of serrated metal on a stick which you hold in place using your hip) however we’ve found a zester or microplane does the trick just as well and takes a little less practice to use!
We serve ours with red rice which is found with most meals in Sri Lanka, you can buy this from whole food shops but it works just as well with white rice and/or a good flat bread.
If you can’t find rainbow chard you can substitute for swiss chard or any other leafy green. The potato variety we used in this recipe is Valor - a generally good all rounder, try to avoid using potatoes which are too floury in this recipe as they will not hold their form as well.
As always, let us know if you try this recipe. We’d love to hear how you get on!
Iranga teaching us how to ‘milk a coconut’
Ingredients
1 1/2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 1/2 tsp yellow mustard seeds
10 curry leaves (fresh or dried)
1 onion (thinly sliced)
1 inch thumb of ginger (finely chopped)
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
3 green chillies (finely chopped)
3 tomatoes (seeds removed and diced to 1cm)
1 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 1/2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp garam masala
400g tin coconut milk
100ml water
500g potato (peeled and cut into equal size pieces)
2 kaffir lime leaves
100g rainbow chard (or other leafy green) roughly chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 lime
Coriander leaves to garnish
Method
Begin by heating the coconut oil over a medium high heat in a heavy bottom saucepan
Once the oil is moderately hot, add the mustard seeds and curry leaves and fry for 30 seconds until the seeds start sizzling and popping - be careful not to burn the seeds as this will add a bitter flavour.
Turn down the heat to low and add the onions, garlic, ginger and green chillies - cook for 3-4 minutes until the onion has softened
Next add the diced tomato along with the dry spices, mix well and cook for another few minutes
Add the coconut milk, kaffir lime leaves, potatoes and just enough water so the potatoes are completely covered
Bring to a boil, and allow to simmer for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender
Season with salt and pepper
Add the chopped rainbow chard and cook until the leaves are just wilted
Finish with a squeeze of fresh lime juice
Serve with boiled red rice and fresh coriander leaves