Vegan Rendang with Tofu and Potatoes (Rendang Tahu dan Kentang)
Vegan Rendang recipe, a vegan version of the iconic Beef Rendang, a richly flavoured coconut curry from Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia.
- Prep time
- 30 min
- Cook time
- 50 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 500 g (1.1 lb) potatoes ((waxy ones like red potatoes are best, as they won't fall apart easily))
- 300 g (101/2 oz) firm tofu ((weight is give or take, depends on what sizes your tofu comes in))
- 1 tsp ground turmeric ((serbuk kunyit))
- juice of 1 lime
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 20 dried red chillies ((non smoky variety))
- 3 stalk lemongrass (serai), the bottom half only ((or 2 tsp lemongrass paste out of a jar))
- 21/2 cm (1") galangal (lengkuas) ((or 1/2 tsp galangal paste out of a jar))
- 5 cm (2") ginger (halia)
- 3 clove garlic (bawang putih), left whole
- 1 large onion (bawang besar), quartered
- 4 tbsp kerisik
- 1 tbsp ground coriander (serbuk ketumbar)
- 4 tbsp unsweetened desiccated coconut ((preferably organic, with no preservatives))
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 400 ml (1 3/5 cup) coconut milk ((1 can))
- 125 ml (1/2 cup) water
- 2 turmeric leaves (daun kunyit) ((or 6 kaffir lime leaves))
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 red capsicum (bell pepper), halved, then sliced in thick strips
Instructions
- 1
Boil some water.
- 2
With a pair of scissors, cut each chilli into 2-3 pieces, and place in a bowl. If you want to save time, you could use 3 Tbsp of any generic shop bought chilli paste, ideally, without any other ingredients like onions and garlic.
- 3
Pour the very hot water onto the cut chillies and cover with a side plate. Leave to soak for 15-20 minutes while you get everything else ready.
- 4
Depending on the size of your potatoes, halve or quarter them. Place on a plate.
- 5
Cut up your tofu into small cubes about 2.5cm (1") long. Place on a separate plate.
- 6
Sprinkle the turmeric, lime juice and salt equally over both, and rub all over, being gentle with the tofu. Set aside while you get the kerisik going.
- 7
Dry fry (toast) the desiccated coconut on low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. When done, tip onto a plate while you get the ground ingredients going. Leaving it in the hot pan will brown it further, and you don't want it to be burnt.
- 8
Usually, we'd pound this toasted coconut before adding to the rendang paste below. But I've dispensed with that method, and quite enjoy the texture the coarser kerisik lends to the rendang.
- 9
Place all the paste ingredients into a chopper and chop for about 30 seconds, mixing everything well. Continue chopping/blending until you have a fairly fine mix. Add a little water if you need it.
- 10
Heat the oil in a large frying pan on high heat.
- 11
Brown the potatoes for about 3 minutes, tossing and turning them. Reserve that marinating liquid. Tip out onto a plate.
- 12
In the same pan, brown the tofu for 2-3 minutes, tossing and turning gently, so as not to break them up. Reserve the marinating liquid. Tip out onto a plate.
- 13
Get a large saucepan and heat the oil on medium heat.
- 14
Fry the cinnamon stick for 15 seconds, then add the ground paste.
- 15
Sauté this paste for a good 5 minutes, stirring regularly. It's going to be dry as we are not using much oil here. Just scrape your pan and continue frying.
- 16
Toss in the potatoes without the marinating liquid. Mix to cover the potatoes with the paste.
- 17
Pour in the coconut milk and water and stir.
- 18
Using a pair of scissors, roll the turmeric leaves into a chiffonade, and snip into strands straight into the pan. Add the salt, and the marinating liquid (from both the potatoes and the tofu) and bring everything to a simmer.If using lime leaves instead, now's the time to drop them in.
- 19
Stir, then partially cover and cook for 20-30 minutes depending on the size of your potatoes. We want the potatoes completely done, but not falling apart before we add the tofu and capsicum (bell pepper).
- 20
When your potatoes are done, add the tofu and capsicum and cook for another 5 minutes. Taste, and add more salt if you think your rendang needs it. Take off the heat and leave it to rest for 15 minutes for the flavours to develop, before serving.
- 21
Vegetarian Rendang on my brand new site, SMR.