Kathurumurunga Flowers Curry (Bok Phool / Agasti flowers)

Kathurumurunga flowers is one of the edible flowers popular in Sri Lankan cuisine. There are many ways to cook kathurumurunga flowers as fritters, omelette or even as a stir-fry. However in this post I want to share kathurumurunga flowers curry recipe which I love to eat much. Sadly, as I live in Singapore I eat such Sri Lankan food only during my holidays in Sri Lanka. If I am timely, I will find kathurumurunga flowers, otherwise it always ends up satisfying with kathurumurunga kola mallum.

In my recent Sri Lankan holiday, I was lucky enough to see all out kathurumurunga trees are flowered. Unfortunately those kathurumurunga trees were grown high, so it was difficult to pluck some flowers easily. During our short stay in parents’ home, I was lucky enough to taste kathurumurunga mal curry together with some photos of its preparation with the Food Corner readers in mind.

So, do you like reading this recipe? Anyway in Indian cuisine kathurumurunga flowers are called as Bok Phool and agasti flowers. These names will be helpful for you in case if you want to look few other recipe ideas with Kathurumurunga flowers.

How to clean Kathurumurunga Flowers (Bok Phool  / Agasti flowers)

Well, this is not a secret for most Sri Lankans. In kathurumurunga flowers, you can see worms most of the time. Therefore it is a must to check for worms when you prepare these flowers for cooking.

This is how to clean kathurumurunga flowers.

First remove the petals of the flowers one by one.

Check for worms and eggs of worms if any.

Discard such parts which cannot use for the curry.

Also remove the stem inside the flower which has yellow colour sticky dust type pollen at its top. If you add these pollen to your curry, it will taste bitter.

These are the basic steps to Clean and prepare kathurumurunga flowers for any dish

Kathurumurunga Flowers curry recipe

Ingredients: (for 3-4 servings)

Fresh Kathurumurunga flowers (as you see enough)

 1 Medium sized tomato (optional)

2-3 green chilies sliced

 ½ medium sized onion sliced

¼ tsp turmeric powder

1 tspn of raw curry powder

 1/2 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 sprig curry leaves

 1 inch Piece of cinnamon

 Salt to taste

 1/2 cup thick coconut milk

 1/2 cup thin coconut milk

 1-2 tspn lime juice

 1 tbspn Maldive Fish (optional)

Method

Clean kathurumurunga flowers, remove the stem in middle. Wash and drain water. Cut into small pieces. Keep aside.

 Wash and dice tomato into pieces.

 In a pot, add all the spices together with, tomato, onion, green chili & curry leaves. Add a dash of salt.

 Add maldive fish too if you use.(optional)

 Mix all & add thin coconut milk.

 Cook in low flame till onions are tender. Stir time to time.

 When onions and tomatoes are tender, add sliced kathurumurunga flowers.

Mix well and cook few seconds till the kathurumurunga flowers are tender.

At this time, add thick coconut milk.

 Stir continuously till coconut milk starts boiling. Cook in a very low flame.

Adjust salt to taste.

Remove from the heat.

Kathurumurunga curry is ready to serve with plain rice.

How do you cook Kathurumurunga Flowers? Do you cook Kathurumurunga Flowers stirfry,omelette or as fritters?Let me know your recipe ideas.

Read more Sri Lankan recipes:

• Sri Lankan Kiri Ala Curry (Taro Roots Curry)
• Sri Lankan Mushroom Stir-Fry Recipe
• Sausage Stir fry – Sri Lankan style Recipe
• Kurignan Kola Sambolaya : Sri Lankan Edible Leaves
• Karawala Thel Dala (Sri Lankan Dried Fish Fry)