Vegetarian lovers’ rice

Name: Vegetarian lovers’ rice
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Sri Lankan
Ingredients: 100 g (3½ oz) winter melon or pumpkin (winter squash), peeled; 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger; 1 carrot, finely diced; 25 fresh curry leaves, shredded; 2 tablespoons chilli flakes; 1 cinnamon stick; 45 g (1½ oz/¼ cup) raisins; ½ teaspoon salt; 2 teaspoons sugar; 2 teaspoons crushed garlic; 200 g (7 oz) samba rice; if you can’t get hold of it, use a short-grained rice; 1 fresh curry leaf sprig, leaves picked; 50 g (1¾ oz/⅓ cup) fresh green peas; 2½ tablespoons virgin coconut oil; 1 teaspoon ground turmeric; 150 g (5½ oz/1 cup) cashews, chopped; 2 cloves; 1 large onion, diced; ½ pandan leaf, chopped; fried shredded curry leaves, to garnish; 1 tablespoon Sri Lankan vegetarian chilli paste; 100 g (3½ oz) virgin coconut oil

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium
Ready in
1 hr 10

Appears in

Lands of the Curry Leaf

By Peter Kuruvita

Published 2018

About

Made to celebrate a couple’s love for each other, this opulent and festive dish usually contains seafood, but the vegetarian version is just as lovely.

Ingredients

200 g (7 oz) samba rice; if you can’t get hold of it, use a short-grained rice
2½ tablespoons<

Asia
Sri Lanka
Main course
Spicy
Vegan
Gluten-free

Method

To make the chilli paste, heat the coconut oil in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat. Fry the onion, pandan leaf, cinnamon stick, cloves and chilli flakes for about 3 minutes, or until the onion is golden. Stir in the curry leaves, garlic and ginger and cook for about 3 minutes, or until fragrant. Sprinkle with the sugar and salt and stir until dissolved, then remove from the heat and leav