Vegetables in Coconut Milk (Sayur Lodeh)
Sayur Lodeh is a popular Indonesian vegetable dish cooked in coconut milk. This easy vegetable curry recipe is loaded with colorful veggies and packed with flavor. Turmeric is used to give it a beautiful shade of yellow.
- Prep time
- 15 min
- Cook time
- 20 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- MEDIUM
Ingredients
Quantities are shown as originally provided.
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 cup coconut milk
- 2 cup water
- 1/4 small cabbage (diced)
- 1 chayote (peeled and sliced into thin matchsticks)
- 1 carrot (peeled)
- 1/4 lb green beans (or snake beans, cut)
- 1 Asian eggplant (or 3 Thai egg plant)
- 1 tsp ginger paste
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1 tbsp fish sauce to taste (or more to taste)
- 3 tbsp dried shrimp
- 5 red finger chili (sliced (seed removed, if you prefer less spicy))
- 3 shallot (peeled and cut into chunks)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 -2 Tbsp water
Instructions
- 1
Cut all the vegetables into a desired bite size pieces or matchsticks. For chayote, rub the chayote slices with 1 teaspoon of salt for 30 seconds and rinse with water. That will soften the texture and make them less slimy.
- 2
To make the spice paste, combine diced red chilies, shallot, garlic, shrimp in a small blender and add 1-2 tablespoons of water to help the blade run. Process until a smooth paste forms. You can also go the traditional route by using a mortar and pestle to make the spice paste. Just pound the ingredients until it forms a paste.
- 3
Heat oil in a pot over medium heat. Add the spice paste and cook for 4-7 minutes until it loses some of its water content.
- 4
Add the milk, water mixture, vegetables, ginger, and turmeric. Simmer for 10-15 minutes, uncovered, until the vegetables are tender. Stir the stew occasionally. Do not let it come to a full boil--you don't want the coconut milk to curdle.
- 5
Season with fish sauce to your liking. Serve hot with rice.