This Sri Lankan dish tastes heavenly. It's sweet, spicy, and very aromatic at the same time. I haven’t cooked anything like this before. Although the list of ingredients seems to be quite long, the recipe is very easy. Adding cardamom and cinnamon in the hot oil gives the dish a very interesting and intense flavour. Remember to taste the dish during cooking, before you add more chiles. I only added three hot red chiles as it was spicy enough for my taste.
You need:
2 very large sweet potatoes
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
5 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
3 whole dried hot red chili peppers, broken into halves
2 whole cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
20 fresh curry leaves (or fresh basil leaves for a different but equally interesting flavour)
3 good-sized onions, cut into halves lenghthwise and then into very fine half rings
1 to 3 coarsely crushed dried hot red chili peppers -> I omitted it
1 ¼ to 1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
Method:
1. Peel the sweet potatoes and quarter lenghthwise. Now cut crosswise to get chunky pieces. Put the sweet potato pieces in a large pot and cover well with water. Add the turmeric and bring to a boil. Stir well to mix in the turmeric. Boil, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender but still firm. Drain.
2. Put the oil in a large frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the red chiles. Stir once and when the chiles darken, a matter of seconds, put in the cardamom and cinnamon. Stir once or twice and put in the curry leaves. Stir once and put in the onions. Stir and cook the onions for 5-6 minutes or until they are lightly browned. Put in the sweet potatoes. Stir and fry for 5 minutes. Put in the crushed red chiles, salt and lime juice. Stir and cook, lowering the heat as needed, until the sweet potatoes are tender enough for your taste.
3. Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods before serving.
2 very large sweet potatoes
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
5 tablespoons peanut or olive oil
3 whole dried hot red chili peppers, broken into halves
2 whole cardamom pods
1 cinnamon stick
20 fresh curry leaves (or fresh basil leaves for a different but equally interesting flavour)
3 good-sized onions, cut into halves lenghthwise and then into very fine half rings
1 to 3 coarsely crushed dried hot red chili peppers -> I omitted it
1 ¼ to 1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice
Method:
1. Peel the sweet potatoes and quarter lenghthwise. Now cut crosswise to get chunky pieces. Put the sweet potato pieces in a large pot and cover well with water. Add the turmeric and bring to a boil. Stir well to mix in the turmeric. Boil, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are tender but still firm. Drain.
2. Put the oil in a large frying pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, put in the red chiles. Stir once and when the chiles darken, a matter of seconds, put in the cardamom and cinnamon. Stir once or twice and put in the curry leaves. Stir once and put in the onions. Stir and cook the onions for 5-6 minutes or until they are lightly browned. Put in the sweet potatoes. Stir and fry for 5 minutes. Put in the crushed red chiles, salt and lime juice. Stir and cook, lowering the heat as needed, until the sweet potatoes are tender enough for your taste.
3. Remove the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods before serving.
I found the recipe in World Vegetarian by Madhur Jaffrey's