Home > Gulai Daun Singkong Atau Kale Padang (Padang Cassava Leaves or Kale Curry)

Gulai Daun Singkong Atau Kale Padang (Padang Cassava Leaves or Kale Curry)

Posting Date: 05/31/18

Gulai Daun Singkong Atau Kale Padang (Padang Cassava Leaves or Kale Curry) is one of Padang dishes. Traditionally, it is made using cassava leaves but it is difficult to find fresh cassava leaves in certain countries that I substitute it with Kale. Kale tastes similar to cassava leaves and thus, it makes a perfect substitute. If you can find both, you can use either one of them. If you use cassava leaves, make sure you cook them for at least 10 min because the leaves are toxic when they are eaten raw. If you are not familiar with kale, kale is considered as superfood because of the health benefit of consuming it. You can eat it raw in a salad or even in a smoothie. You can also cook it by stir frying it. Gulai Kale recipe is perfect for kale because internet has many kale recipes but you may not find kale cooked with Indonesian flavor. In Indonesia, gulai Padang can be found in Padang restaurants all over the country. Gulai can be made using meat or vegetable. One example of meat gulai is Gulai Ayam Padang (Padang Chicken Curry). Gulai Daun Singkong Padang is an example of vegetable gulai. Another one is Gulai Nangka Padang (Padang Young Jackfruit Curry.

In Indonesia, this dish is normally served with rice and other dishes, especially meat dishes. Growing up, my mom always had meat dish served with vegetable dish because she tried to make sure we got good nutritions. So, she would make Rendang Ayam (Chicken Rendang) or Rendang (Beef Rendang) to go with this dish. Rendang and Gulai originated in the same region (Padang) and thus, it is good together. However, you can serve this dish with other meat dish (fried chicken, etc.) or just eat it as is with rice.

In this recipe, I added red bell pepper. Traditionally, red bell pepper is not used. The reason I use it is to add color since many people eat with their eyes. The red color makes the green popped up. It also adds sweet flavor and texture because I cook it until it is tender crisp.

This recipe serves 3-4 people.

Ingredients:

For blanching kale or cassava leaves: 1 tablespoon salt
410 grams fresh kale or cassava leaves. If using kale, discard the stem and roughly chop the leaves. Without the stem, you will need about 260 grams or 4 cups since some stores sell fresh kale in a package where it has been rinsed and chopped without the stem. If using cassava leaves, chop them.
For spice paste: 3 small size shallots or 1 large shallot, quartered
For spice paste: 3 cloves of garlic, halved
For spice paste: 1/2 tablespoon coriander powder
For spice paste: 1 teaspoon turmeric powder
For spice paste: 1/2" fresh ginger, sliced
For spice paste: 2 tablespoons sambal oelek
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 bay leaves
2 kaffir lime leaves. If you cannot find kaffir lime leaves, you can substitute with lime zest. Use about 1/2 teaspoon of it.
1 lemongrass, white part smashed with the back of knife and green part discarded
Optional: 1 red bell pepper, sliced
100 ml coconut milk
300 ml water
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
pinch of black pepper or to taste

Methods:

Add enough water into a pot so that kale or cassava leaves will be covered in it while cooking. Bring it to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt into the pot. Add kale or cassava leaves in a pot. If using cassava leaves, cook them for at least 10 min. This will remove the toxin from the leaves. If using kale, cook it until it becomes slightly softened. Drain the water and leave them on colander to drain excess water.
Process all the spice paste ingredients (shallots, garlic, coriander powder, turmeric powder, ginger, and sambal oelek) in a food processor until they become smooth paste.
Heat vegetable oil on a pan over medium high heat. Saute the spice paste until it becomes fragrant. Add bay leaves, kafir lime leaves, and lemongrass into the pan. Saute them for about 2 min. Add kale or cassava leaves and red bell pepper if used into the pan. Stir fry the bell pepper until it becomes tender crisp. Add water, coconut milk, salt, and pepper. Cook it until it is boiling. Reduce the heat to simmer and stir it. Taste it and add more seasonings if needed. Cook until the liquid is slightly thickened but make sure you stir the liquid from time to time. Once thickened, remove from the heat.
Serve it with rice.

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