Sri Lankan Dark Roasted Curry Paste
Ingredients
10 tablespoons coriander seeds
3 tablespoons cumin seeds
3 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
2 tablespoons ground rice
2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
12 large dried red chillies, stems removed
2 cinnamon sticks, broken into pieces
2 teaspoons cardamom seeds
2 teaspoons whole cloves
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
vinegar and water for blending
16 dried curry leaves
3 dried pandan leaves cut into 2.5 cm/1 in lengths
Directions
In a dry frying pan over medium heat roast each of the spice seeds separately, stirring constantly, until each one smells fragrant and turns dark brown. Turn onto plate to cool. Roast ground rice and coconut separately until golden brown. Turn onto plate and when cool place all the ingredients in an electric blender. Add chillies broken into pieces, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, garlic and ginger. Blend at high speed adding equal amounts of vinegar and water to assist blending. Scrape down sides of jar from time to time until a smooth puree is formed.
Remove from container, stir in curry leaves and pandan leaves and store in a glass jar in refrigerator. Use 2 or 3 tablespoons paste for each 500 g (1 lb) of meat.
Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)