Vegan lotus root curry
Description
My Sri Lankan style vegan lotus root curry made with spices and coconut milk. A healthy one-pot dish that is so good to have with rice.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon vinegar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 200 grams Lotus root
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 1/8 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
- 5 dried red chilies
- 1 sprig of curry leaves
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 2 garlic cloves chopped
- 1 garcinia cambogia (goraka)
- 1 teaspoon curry powder
- 1 teaspoon red chili powder (skip or reduce if you don't like heat)
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
- 1 cup very thin coconut milk or water (enough to cover)
- 3/4 cups thick coconut milk
- 2 teaspoons coconut oil/any other cooking oil
- salt to your taste
To wash the lotus root
For the curry
Instructions
Cut the ends of the lotus roots. Wash it thoroughly to remove any mud or impurities. And peel or scrape the skin off. Then cut the lotus roots into very thin slices. Probably about 1mm to 2mm thin. If you cut them thinner they would cook a lot quicker. Wash the slices to remove excess starch.
Cut the ends of the lotus roots. Wash it thoroughly to remove any mud or impurities. And peel or scrape the skin off. Then cut the lotus roots into very thin slices. Probably about 1mm to 2mm thin. If you cut them thinner they would cook a lot quicker. Wash the slices to remove excess starch. 
Now add all the lotus root slices to a bowl and add some water. Mix about a tsp of salt and a tsp vinegar to the mix. This would help to remove some of the germs. (optional step, you can skip if you want)
Heat 2 tsp oil in a pot. Add mustard seeds, fenugreek seeds. 
When the mustard seeds start to splatter, add curry leaves, dried red chilies (broken and seeds removed). Mix for few seconds until chilies start to brown a little bit. 
Now add chopped onion, garlic, piece of garcinia cambogia (goraka) and let it cook until the onions start to sweat.
For that, add curry powder, chili powder (you can skip or reduce the amount of chili powder you add according to your likings.) and turmeric powder and salt to your taste. roast the spices in oil, continuously mixing.
Now add the lotus root slices (without the salt-vinegar water) and mix well with the spice mixture. 
When everything is nicely mixed together, add very thin coconut milk or water to cover all the lotus root slices. Put the lid on and cook until lotus root slices are tender. ( You might need more or less than one cup.)
If you use canned coconut milk, mix about 1 1/2 tbsp with water to make thin coconut milk. If you use freshly squeezed coconut milk, then use the third or fourth squeeze. 
Halfway through the cooking, taste the broth and see if it's sour and salty enough. You can remove the Garcinia/Goraka piece at this moment if you can already taste enough sourness from the curry. Don't wait too long since you only need to add a hint of sourness. Also, adjust salt if needed.
Cover again and cook, until you get a little to 1/4 cup of broth left or until the lotus root slices are tender. If the pieces aren't tender yet, you can add some water and cook a bit more longer. (Keep in mind that lotus roots always have some bite to them so you cannot get them super soft.) 
Finally, add thick coconut milk and cook on medium-low heat until you get the desired consistency. Stir few times.
vegan, lotus, lotus root, lotus root curry, nelum curry, nelum ala, sri lankan, sri lanka
