South Indian Coconut Curry Recipes

SOUTH INDIAN COCONUT CURRY

Steps:

• Heat up a dry pan or skillet. Put all the paste spices in and gently dry roast them until fragrant. Remove from heat, set aside.
• In the same pan, gently roast grated coconut until it turns golden - be sure to stir it often as it burns quickly.
• In a pestle and mortar* (or a spice grinder if you have one) pound all the curry paste spices until you get a powder. Add in roasted coconut and pound some more. Add ½ cup / 120 ml water to make it into a paste. Set aside.
• Heat up 2 tbsp of oil in a pan and gently fry mustard seeds until they start crackling.
• Add in finely diced onion and fry until translucent.
• Add in grated ginger and pressed garlic and fry them off gently stirring the whole time. Fry until raw garlic smell goes away.
• Add finely chopped tomato, turmeric, bay leaf and fry for a few minutes until the tomato flesh disintegrates.
• Add in curry paste, fry it gently until the oil starts leaving the sides of the paste.
• Add in 1 cup / 240 ml water and aubergine pieces. Put the lid on, cook aubergine in the curry broth until it is soft (about 10 mins).
• Add in coconut milk and cooked chickpeas to warm them through. Season with salt and lime juice. Let the sauce simmer gently so that it thickens a bit.
• Serve with cooked rice and/or some vegan naan bread.

SOUTH INDIAN COCONUT & PRAWN CURRY

Steps:

• Put the onion, ginger, garlic and the halved tomatoes in a food processor with 50ml water and blitz to a smooth purée. You may need to scrape down the inside of the food processor a couple of times. Heat the oil in a large, deep non-stick frying pan, pour in the purée, cover with a lid and cook for 10 mins.
• Add the 1/2 cinnamon stick, mustard seeds, cloves, cardamom, turmeric, coriander and curry leaves, and cook for a few mins, stirring. Pour in 300ml water with the stock cube, coconut and chilli, then leave to simmer for 10 mins more. Taste to ensure that the onion is fully cooked - if not, it is worth cooking for another 5 mins.
• Finally, add the tomato wedges, prawns and fish, gently stir into the sauce, then cover and cook for 5 mins. Serve with the Spicy cauliflower pilau (see Goes well with).

INDIAN COCONUT CHICKEN CURRY

Steps:

• Heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat in a large, deep pan. Stir in mustard seeds and cook until seeds have been sputtering for 20 seconds; add cumin seeds. Stir in red chile and asafoetida. Add onion and fry for 2 minutes. Add garlic, bay leaf, ginger, and turmeric powder and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in curry leaves, chili powder, and black pepper and cook until onions are golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Add chicken to the pan and fry until almost cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in coriander powder and mix well. Pour in coconut milk; bring to a boil. Add tamarind paste and salt; mix well. Add garam masala; reduce heat and let simmer, adding water as necessary, until curry reaches desired consistency and chicken is no longer pink in the center, about 10 minutes more.