Sayur Lodeh (Curry Vegetables) and Lontong

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And now for the today's recipe: Sayur Lodeh, or vegetables in a curried soup, is a popular dish locally and in the region. Occasionally, I would have cravings for this spicy and aromatic dish. It's very easy and fast to whip up because we can find the curry paste or powder in the supermarket. All one needs to do is add the coconut milk and boil the vegetables till softened. 

As convenient ready-made curry paste is, I don't think anything beats making it from scratch. So when the craving hit, I decided that was what I was going to do. It takes a little time and effort to prepare the ingredients for the curry paste but once you take a sniff of that lovely aroma, you'll think its all worth it! My mouth was already watering when I was frying the paste. 

The Sayur Lodeh turned out to be wonderfully fragrant and delicious. It is fairly spicy for those who are not used to strong tastes but I absolutely love it! I made the Sayur Lodeh for a gathering with friends and along with it, I served Lontong - compressed rice cooked inside a banana leave. Sayur Lodeh with Lontong is a very common dish found in the hawker centres locally and its makes a filling and appetising one-dish meal. Everyone gave the dish a thumbs up!

Sayur Lodeh (Curry Vegetables) and Longtong (Serves 4 to 6)

Recipe adapted from 3 Hungry Tummies

Curry Paste

• 10 dried chillies, soaked in hot water til soften, seeds removed
• 3 red chillies, chopped
• 6 candle nuts (macadamia nuts and brazil nuts are good substitute)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 6 shallots (150 g), chopped
• 1.5 tbs of turmeric powder
• 1 cm piece of shrimp paste, toasted (I used 10 g)
• 30 g of dried shrimp, soaked in hot water and chopped
• a 5 cm knob of ginger
• a 5 cm knob of galangal or 1.5 tbs of galangal powder
• 2 lemongrass (white parts only), chopped

Sayur Lodeh

• Curry paste from above recipe
• 350 g of long beans or green beans, cut into 5 cm length
• 1 large carrot, peeled and cut into 5 cm strips
• 1/2 a head of cabbage, cut into strips/pieces
• 1 eggplant or 3 oriental eggplants, cut into chunks
• 10 fried tofu puffs, halved
• 400 ml coconut milk
• 1 cup of stock 
• Extra 300 ml of water (my addition as I wanted more gravy)
• 3 kaffir lime leave, torn for extra fragrance
• Seasoning to taste 

To serve

• Ready-made Lontong, steamed for 15-20 minutes till hot. Serve topped with the Curry Vegetables and boiled eggs.

Method

• Place the curry paste ingredients into a blender and blend everything to a fine paste.
• Prepare and set aside the vegetables and tofu puffs.
• Saute curry paste til oil separates (For some reason, I wasn't able to get the oil to separate even after dry frying it for about 15 minutes).
• Add coconut milk, stock and kaffir lime leaves and bring it to a boil.
• Add in the vegetables gradually and cook til tender (I added an extra 300 ml of water to the curry while its cooking as I found the sauce too thick. I cooked for about 40 mins)
• Season to taste with salt or other types of seasoning (I used 1 tsp of mushroom seasoning).
• Serve as part of a Malaysian meal. You'll need plenty of steamed rice with this.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Miss B from Everybody Eats Well in Flanders, at this post.

This is for Made with Love Mondays by Javelin Warrior.