Sri Lankan cashew curry

Ingredients

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 1 clove

• 1 cardamom pod

• 3-4 curry leaves or 1 stalk lemongrass*

• ½ onion, finely sliced

• 3 cloves garlic, crushed

• 1 teaspoon fenugreek seeds, crushed**

• 2 teaspoons ground coriander

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• 1 teaspoon chili powder

• ¼ teaspoon turmeric

• 250 g cashew nuts

• 420 ml coconut milk

• oil

• salt

* Lemongrass can be found in health food stores or Chinese supermarkets. You can also find dried, packaged lemongrass.

** Fenugreek seeds are hard to crush, but it is possible. You may prefer to use ground fenugreek.

Method

1. First heat the oil in a heavy pan and fry the cinnamon, clove, cardamom and curry leaves or lemongrass for a few moments before adding the onion and garlic.

2. The ground fenugreek seeds, coriander, cumin, chili, turmeric and cashews go in now; stir well.

3. Let everything cook together for 5 minutes to combine well. Then slowly pour in the coconut milk and stir round. Season, and simmer gently for 10 minutes before serving with boiled rice into which a few raisins or sultanas have been thrown while cooking.