Supper Club: Healthy midweek Sri Lankan cashew curry

I was lucky enough to travel to this beautiful and exotic country for the first time a couple of years ago; however, I’d fallen in love with the food long before, when my good friend introduced me to the cuisine while at medical school.

One of the first dishes I tried was this gorgeous cashew curry. Rich in flavour, this bowl of goodness pairs beautifully with simple brown rice but also tastes fantastic on its own. Cashews are a great source of resistant starch that releases sugar into the bloodstream much more slowly than potatoes or other starchy foods and helps boost our community of gut microbes.

Sri Lankan cashew curry
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp coconut oil
• 15g root ginger, peeled and grated
• 5 garlic cloves, grated or finely chopped
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 shallot, finely diced
• 8-10 curry leaves (optional)
• 5cm piece of lemongrass (tender base only), thinly sliced (optional)
• 3 tsp curry powder (Sri Lankan or regular)
• 260g unsalted cashews, soaked in water for 20 minutes, then drained
• 400g tin coconut milk
• 100ml hot water
• 400g tin chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 100g sweetcorn kernels (frozen, fresh or tinned)
• 50g baby spinach
• 10g fresh coriander, finely chopped
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

1. Melt the coconut oil in a large saucepan over a medium heat, then add the ginger, garlic, bay leaf, shallot, curry leaves and lemongrass (if using) and sauté for 2-3 minutes until softened and lightly coloured.
2. Add the curry powder and drained cashews, along with a pinch each of salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes. Add the coconut milk, hot water and chickpeas, bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 20 minutes.
3. Add the sweetcorn and spinach, re-cover and cook for a further 2-3 minutes to gently cook the greens. Remove from the heat, stir through the coriander and serve.

Tip: Try some variation, like peas instead of sweetcorn or green radish leaves, chard or other leafy greens work well instead of spinach.

Extracted from The Doctor’s Kitchen: Eat to Beat Illness by Dr Rupy Aujla (Thorsons). Photography by Faith Mason.