Nasi Padang Delights part 1: Tapioca Leaf Curry (Recipe #29)

Sooo I’m sat in England, rather ill and wishing I was somewhere more sunny so as to avail of a spicy curry to make my flu go away… Seeing as that is not possible and there are limited things one can do from one’s bed, I thought I’d catch up on my my blog’s backlog of drafted posts… what better to choose than my very own *adapted* recipe for Gulai Daun Singkong or Tapioca Leaf Curry. I first discovered this when I was at lunch with my boss from the gallery I used to work at in Singapore back in January 2014. We’d just finished ArtStage Singapore with some favorable results after many long nights and several hard days work in the run up to the art fair. Nothing says ‘great work’ better than a hearty lunch… so off we went to Upper Circular Road to avail of, arguably, Singapore’s best Nasi Padang.

Nasi padang is an Indonesian food concept similar to an Indian Thaali comprising of many dishes, some meaty, some bursting with exotic seafood, and some with lots of plant-based protein like tofu or tempeh and vegetables. This dish is my own recreation of one of the more under-rated dishes of the nasi-padang repertoire… it takes centre-stage in my heart to be fair!

Ingredients

• 2 bunches of tapioca leaves (c.250g), thoroughly washed and roughly chopped
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 stalk lemongrass
• 3/4 litrewater
• 1 cup thick coconut milk
• 2 fresh red chillies
• 8 small shallots/1/2 a large red onion
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp turmeric powder/ 1″ piece of fresh turmeric
• 1 inch fresh ginger
• 1 inch fresh galangal
• ½ tablespoon ground coriander powder
• ½ tablespoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Method:

1. Chop Tapioca leaves
   
2. Grind the chillies, shallots, garlic, turmeric powder, ginger, galangal, coriander powder, salt and sugar in a spice grinder/ coffee grinder until it is a smooth paste
3. Heat some cooking oil in a deepish frying pan/wok and lightly fry the spice paste until it is fragrant
   
4. Add bay leaves and lemongrass and saute for 2-3 minutes
5. Add in the tapioca leaves and toss in the spice paste with a little dab of the coconut milk for good measure
   .
6. Once sweated, add the water and half of the coconut milk and bring to the boil. 
7. Add remaining coconut milk, mix well, and simmer for another 10 minutes. Add in a little extra salt/sugar as required
   
8. Serve hot with fresh steamed white rice 🙂