This page may contain affiliate links. Any commissions earned means I can continue providing you free recipes. You can see the full disclaimer here. https://wp.me/Par0A1-uK
There are many things I love about Bali which is why I love going there, but one of the best things is the beautiful flavours used in the cooking. We took some cooking classes there on our last trip and learnt a great deal about the sort of ingredients used and the types of dishes created. These dishes are usually quite simple but incredibly flavourful with ingredients all designed to complement each other. Like a lot of these types of cuisines there is nearly always a base set of flavours or ingredients used in almost all recipes.
This Balinese Curry is based off a curry we made while in Bali and uses tempe which is a soybean cake similar to tofu, except it is fermented and the soybeans are whole, unlike tofu where they have been processed smooth. The taste and texture of tempe is completely different to tofu, which I personally am not a big fan of! In Bali tempe is a widely used and very versatile ingredient which tastes amazing and you will find dishes that use it in all sorts of restaurants there.
Generally soy is avoided on low carb diets even though it usually is very low in carbs, but like tamari soy sauce, I allow for tempe sometimes particularly because it is a fermented food. Fermented foods are great for us and tempe is also a great source of protein for vegans and vegetarians as well as being very cheap and incredibly filling.
If you don’t want to use soy or don’t like tempe, you can always use a regular animal based protein, chicken would be a great option for this dish. Both the tempe and choko are low in carbs with choko being a vegetable I’m using more and more and finding to be a great and under-utilised option. It works especially well in place of potato!
This Balinese Curry is one of the most flavourful curries I’ve made and brings back all the memories and feeling of being in Bali with every delicious bite!
Balinese Curry
Equipment
- Wok
Ingredients
- 6 dried curry leaves
- 2 fresh lemongrass stalks, one roughly chopped
- 3 eschallots/French onions, peeled and roughly chopped
- 8 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp fresh ginger
- 3 small red chillies, roughly chopped
- 3 long red chillies, roughly chopped
- 1/2 tsp shrimp paste
- 1/2 tbsp dried galangal powder
- 3 tsp coriander seeds
- 3 tsp fresh turmeric
- 3 tsp macadamia nuts
- 3 Sukrin Gold
- 1/2 lime, the juice
- 3 tbsp coconut oil
- 400 g tempe, diced into cubes
- 2 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
- 1 choko/chayote, peeled and deseeded, diced into cubes
- 1 cup coconut cream
- salt, to taste
- optional fried onion/shallot to garnish
Instructions
- Make curry paste by combining 3 dried curry leaves, 1 lemongrass stalk, eschallots, ginger, galangal, medium and large chillies, shrimp paste, garlic cloves, coriander seeds, turmeric, macadamias, Sukrin Gold and lime juice in a food processor and processing to a fine paste. Set aside.
- Bruise remaining lemongrass stalk. Heat coconut oil in a wok over high heat and add curry
paste, remaining lemongrass stalk, remaining 3 dried curry leaves and kaffir lime leaves. Fry stirring constantly until fragrant, add in choko and tempe and stir to cover and combine with curry paste. - Add 3 cups of water and simmer until choko is soft and cooked and most of the water has evaporated.
- Season with salt and mix through. Add coconut cream and stir until combined. Simmer about 5 minutes, remove from heat and serve garnished with optional fried onion.
[…] Balinese Curry […]