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Recipe-1 › Curries of the world › Sri Lankan chicken curry

Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan chicken curry (Kukul mas curry)

Sri Lanka’s curries use a dark, roasted curry powder (coriander, cumin, fennel and sweet spices toasted until brown), curry leaves, pandan leaf and coconut milk, which give them a flavour quite different from Indian curries.

Same steps, different flavour base Medium

Too hot for you? Use half the chilli (powder, paste or fresh chillies) and leave out the green chillies.

New here? How this page works

Recipe-1 is one simple curry recipe in nine steps: fry onions and green chillies, add your vegetables or meat, add chilli powder and turmeric, then water and salt, and boil. With small changes the same nine steps make curries from all over the world.

This page takes those nine steps and shows what to change to make Sri Lankan chicken curry. You don’t need to read anything else first: every base step is written out below. The changes are worked out on paper from what is typical for this dish; not yet kitchen-tested. Cooked it? Tell others how it went.

Green: the base recipe step (crossed out = do not use it for this dish)Red: what to do instead for Sri Lankan chicken curry

See the full base recipe (with timers and tips) · See all curries on the world map

You’ll need

How many people?4

The amounts change with the number of people; cooking times stay about the same (use a bigger pot for more). Taste as you go: you can always add more chilli or salt, but you cannot take it out.

Main ingredient: 750 g Chicken on the bone.

From the base recipe

  • 2 Onions
  • 2 Green chillies
  • 3 tbsp Cooking oil
  • 1 tsp Red chilli powder
  • ½ tsp Turmeric
  • 1 tsp · not used Salt and water
  • 1 tbsp Ginger garlic paste
  • 3 · 3 · 5 cm Cloves, cardamom and cinnamon
  • Garam masala (optional) not used

Add for Sri Lankan chicken curry

  • 2–3 tbsp Roasted Sri Lankan curry powder
  • 1 sprig Curry leaves
  • 5 cm Pandan (rampe) leaf
  • 1 A stick of lemongrass (optional)
  • 400 ml Coconut milk

Leave out

  • Vegetables
  • Garam masala

The nine steps, with the changes

Where a step has a red line, do the red line and not the crossed-out green base step. Steps with only green are done just as in the base recipe.

  1. Cut onions and chillies.

  2. Base step: do not useFry in some oil for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

    Sri Lankan chicken curry: do thisFry with curry leaves, a piece of pandan leaf, lemongrass and the whole spices (step B). Add ginger garlic paste.

  3. Base step: do not useCut the vegetable(s) of your choice.

    Sri Lankan chicken curry: do thisUse the chicken.

  4. Add them and fry for around 4 minutes on medium-high heat.

  5. Base step: do not useAdd red chilli powder and turmeric.

    Sri Lankan chicken curry: do thisAdd 2–3 spoons of roasted curry powder with the chilli powder and turmeric. Skip the garam masala.

  6. Keep frying until just before they start browning.

  7. Base step: do not useAdd some water.

    Sri Lankan chicken curry: do thisUse thin coconut milk instead of water.

  8. Add salt.

  9. Base step: do not useBoil until the gravy is as thick as you like.

    Sri Lankan chicken curry: do thisBoil until the chicken is cooked, then stir in thick coconut milk and simmer for 2–3 minutes more.

Serve: With rice, or string hoppers.

For meat and seafood, make sure it is cooked through: chicken until no pink remains inside; mutton, goat and beef need long, slow cooking.

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