Tripe Curry

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Tripe Curry (Photo by Ian_Fenn/flickr)

Ingredients

750 g/1 1/2 lb tripe, preferably honeycomb tripe
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
2 teaspoons cumin seeds
1-2 teaspoons chilli powder
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground aromatic ginger
2 sprigs fresh curry leaves
or 20 dried curry leaves
1 strip pandan leaf
1 stem lemon grass, bruised
6 cardamom pods
3 whole cloves
1 small stick cinnamon
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
2 teaspoons finely chopped ginger
1 teaspoon salt
400 ml/14 fl oz can coconut milk
lime juice to taste

Directions

Wash tripe and cut into 5 cm (2 in) squares. In a dry pan roast coriander seeds, shaking pan or stirring constantly, until they are fragrant and darker in colour. Turn out onto a plate and dry roast the cumin seeds in the same way. Pound using a mortar and pestle or grind to powder in an electric grinder. Put all ingredients (except half the coconut milk) into a large, heavy-based saucepan, adding 250 m/8 fl oz/1 cup water. Stir well, bring to the boil, cover and simmer until tripe is tender and gravy thick. Stir in reserved coconut milk and simmer uncovered for a few minutes longer. Serve with rice or pittu.

Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)