Coconut Milk Soup (for Rice)
Ingredients
2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
1 onion, finely chopped
1 sprig fresh curry leaves
1 small stick cinnamon
2 fresh green chillies, slit
2 teaspoons pounded Maldive fish or dried prawns
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon salt
400 ml/14 fl oz can coconut milk
squeeze of lime juice
Directions
Soak fenugreek seeds in hot water for 1 hour. Drain and put into a saucepan with all the ingredients except lime juice and 1/2 cup coconut milk. Add 1 1/2 cups water to the pan and simmer very gently until onions and the fenugreek seeds thicken the coconut milk. Add reserved coconut milk and remove from heat. Stir in lime juice, taste and adjust seasoning. If a thicker soup is preferred, add a few thin slices of potato when starting to simmer.
Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)