Sri Lanka is a tropical paradise that offers you tons of delicious food you have never even seen or tasted. Learning Sri Lankan cooking is an interesting experience you can enjoy during your holiday in Sri Lanka.
The main food in Sri Lanka is rice, which is eaten with a variety of curries. These curries can include vegetarian dishes like vegetables, lentils, and green leaves as well as non-vegetarian dishes like fish, meat and egg. Sri Lankans make curries with different vegetables, lentils, and even fruits. Sri Lankan curries are usually made with coconut milk, which is the juice obtained from scrapped coconut.
Learning how to make curries with different vegetables is something you’ll never forget. Learning how to make cassava curry is one such experience. Some of you have may have never heard of cassava. So, before learning how to make cassava curry, let’s look at what is cassava.
What is Cassava
Cassava, also known as tapioca, yuca, or manioc, is a root vegetable (note that Sri Lankans usually call it manioc or manyokka). It is a brown-skinned, wax-covered root that is full of starch. Once the waxy skin has been removed, you can see the white chalky flesh of the root. There are many ways to cook this white fleshy root – baking, boiling, grilling, deep-frying, making cassava curry, etc. Sri Lankans also eat boiled cassava with coconut and/or spicy katta sambol or kochchi sambol (spicy coconut relish with chillies), usually for breakfast. Cassava curry tastes good with rice and other curries. You can also eat cassava curry with food like bread, and pittu. Cassava is usually available in Sri Lankan markets, especially rural markets.
Cassava curry is a dish you will love – there is no doubt about it. But do you know that, in addition to its delicious taste, it has many health benefits? Cassava is free of common allergens like nuts and gluten. It is also easy to digest and helps in weight gain. In addition, it is a good source of iron and calcium, which is good for your bones and teeth, and iron.
Ingredients for Cassava Curry
- The below ingredients can serve 3-4 people.
- 500g of cassava
- 2 green chillies
- ¼ teaspoon of turmeric powder
- ¼ teaspoon of fenugreek
- ¼ teaspoon of red chilli powder
- a sprig of curry leaves
- 50g onions
- a piece of cinnamon
- 1 cup thick coconut milk (1st extract of coconut milk)
- 1 cup thin coconut milk (2nd and 3rd extract of coconut milk)
How to Make Cassava Curry
1. First, scrub the cassava root to remove the brown and waxy outer skin.
2. Remove any damaged pieces and wash well.
3. Cut the cassava root in small pieces.
4. Then, chop green chillies and onions.
5. Next, add the cassava, green chillies, onions, cinnamon, curry leaves, fenugreek, turmeric and chill powder to the thin coconut milk. Also, make sure that cassava is fully covered by the milk.
6. Bring to boil and cook till done.
7. Then, add the thick coconut milk.
8. Bring to boil and simmer till the gravy becomes reduced.
9. Finally, add salt to taste
10. Now your cassava curry is ready!
Tips:
· Do not close the pot with a lid when cooking. This will make sure that the prussic acid in cassava will pass off with the steam.
· If you are not too fond of spicy food, avoid adding chilli powder to the recipe.
· If you are not sure whether the cassava pieces are still raw, you can poke with a fork to see whether they are soft.
· Use a clay pot if you have one. This will make your cassava curry tastier.
· Sri Lankans believe that a combination of ginger and cassava is poisonous, so don’t eat ginger, when you eat cassava.
· Always try to use fresh cassava.
Thank You Note:
I would love to convey my heartfelt thanks to Nim at Rustic Sri Lanka Cooking Class, who introduced me to delightful Sri Lankan cooking. It was a real delight to try cooking with Nim along with Guided Market tour and learn many great recipes like Sri Lankan cassava curry. Cooking Sri Lankan food was a totally new experience for me, especially all the spices and coconut milk, which is unusual in western cooking. But Rustic cooking class guidance made me a good Sri Lankan cook. The rice and all the accompanying curries we made tasted wonderful. All in all, it was a meal fit for a king!
Here are the Contact details :
Rustic Cooking Class Sri Lanka – Whatsapp : +94 75 606 6645
——————————————————————————————–
