Pineapple Curry!

Okay I know what you're thinking. A fruit curry? A pineapple curry? And I know that you not even like pineapple on a pizza so why would you eat a pineapple curry? I just have to say that I felt pretty much the same way. But the proof of this wonderfully spicy and aromatic Sri Lankan curry is in the tasting. I dare you to give this a go! ;)

I realise that the list of ingredients looks long but it is mostly made up of spices. You can even use a tin of pineapple over fresh if you want too. The first time I tried it was at the Asylum Seekers Resource Centre where I volunteer on Fridays to make lunch. This time however the circumstances were flipped around and before Christmas they cooked for us at a thank you Christmas dinner which was wonderful.

One of the dishes was this pineapple curry. When Sammie and I first tried it we had the exact same reaction. "Wow," we said in unison before both admitting that we didn't expect to love it at all. The we switched to food blogger mode and tried to dissect and reverse engineer the dish. We saw onions, black mustard seeds, chilli and tasted coconut milk, turmeric, ginger and other spices.

The curry that we tried and the curry that I made is just pineapple as the main ingredient. There isn't chicken or another meat in there. And you know it doesn't really need it. You can of course add chicken in it but I'll keep it as it is for when I want something fresh and delicious. And I still don't really love pineapple on pizza (it's ok but there are a dozen other toppings I'd rather have) but this is another matter altogether!

So tell me Dear Reader, do you like pineapple on pizza? Have you ever tried pineapple curry?

Sri Lankan Pineapple Curry

An Original recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Serves 4 with rice

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 30 minutes

• 1 whole pineapple (around 1kg/2.2lbs trimmed of the top) or a 850g/30oz. tin of pineapple pieces, juice reserved
• 3 tablespoons oil or ghee
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 1 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 teaspoon black mustard seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 red onions, peeled and sliced
• 3 slices fresh ginger
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
• 1 green capsicum, seeded and sliced
• 2-3 long red chillies, sliced
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 teaspoons sugar (to taste)

Step 1 - Cut the top and bottom from the pineapple and remove the skin. Cut into slices and then cut into bite sized triangle pieces.

Step 2 - Mix the curry powder, turmeric, mustard seeds, cloves and cardamom. In a large pot without adding any fat, dry fry the spices until fragrant. Then add oil and the onions, ginger, garlic, capsicum and chillies and fry until onions are translucent.

Step 3 - Add the pineapple, water and coconut milk and bring to a simmer. Cook with the lid off for 30 minutes turning so that the pineapple gets saucy. Season with salt and sugar to taste.