This kale curry is exactly what I feel like eating at the moment, now that the little glimpse of spring we had last week is but a distant memory and the rain has well and truly set back in. The base is a fragrant Indonesian-style curry, loaded with kale and topped with crispy shallots. The curry itself is vegan, if that’s your preference. But I love to serve it with a couple of boiled eggs alongside for a good boost of protein.
Lastly, a massive thank you to the wonderful Noor for the site design, and endless hours of help with the site move!
This Indonesian-inspired curry is a great one to add to your repertoire. Full of flavour and easy to make it’s a lovely way to prepare nutrient dense in-season kale. This curry owes its beautiful golden hue to the anti-inflammatory spice turmeric. If you can get your hands on fresh turmeric root you can finely grate and use it in the paste, or simply use ground turmeric to keep things simple. You can easily buy fried shallots from Asian supermarkets, but I prefer to make my own. You will however, need to head to the Asian store to pick up a bunch of the other ingredients, namely the fermented tofu (otherwise known as bean curd). It’s sold in little glass jars and is often spiked with chilli. I use it in place of shrimp paste and fish sauce to give vegetarian curries a nice depth of flavour. It will store indefinitely in your fridge once opened. There you’ll also find Makrut lime leaves and lemon grass, which can both be frozen for later use if you buy more than you need.
Serves 4
Crispy shallots
2 shallots, finely sliced
Peanut or olive oil, to shallow fry
1 shallot or small red onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon grated ginger
1 long red chilli, sliced
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon finely grated fresh or ground turmeric
2 tablespoon fermented tofu (bean curd)
1 stalk lemongrass, bruised slightly and tied in a knot (see NOTE)
4 makrut lime leaves
250ml (1 cup) coconut milk
60-125ml (1/4-1/2 cup) cold water
4 large handfuls roughly chopped kale leaves (from 6-8 stalks)
The juice of 1 lime
Cooked jasmine rice, boiled eggs (optional) and coriander leaves, to serve
Heat a good couple of tablespoons of peanut or olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add sliced shallots to the pan, roughly breaking them up into rings as you go. Fry, stirring often, until lovely and golden brown. Remove pan from the heat, then scoop the shallots out onto a paper towel-lined plate. Set the frying pan aside to use again in a minute.
To make the curry paste, place roughly chopped shallot, garlic, ginger, chilli, ground coriander and fresh/ground turmeric into a small food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Add the fermented tofu and blend until a smooth-ish paste forms.
Heat your frying pan again over medium-high heat, adding a touch more oil if needed. Add curry paste and cook, stirring often for 3 minutes or until fragrant. Add lemongrass and makrut lime leaves and cook for a further 1-2 minutes. Pour in coconut milk and water, stir well, bring to a simmer, add kale, cover with a lid and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat, discard lemongrass and makrut lime leaves. Stir through lime juice, taste and add a touch of salt if needed. Serve kale curry in bowls with rice, a boiled egg (if you like) and a scattering of crispy shallots and coriander leaves.
NOTE: To bruise the lemongrass, use a rolling pin to lightly smash the white end, allowing the flavour to come out, then tie it in a knot so it’s easy to pull out when serving.
18 Responses
The site looks beautiful, Emma! Congratulations – I know how hard it is to give a food blog a makeover, with all the recipe indexing and tagging. This curry sounds so good, bookmarking it for when it gets a bit cooler outside in a month or two 🙂
IT LOOKS SO LOVELY, LADY! And thanks for the reminder that I kinda/sorta need to step up my recipe index game.. 😐 XX
Wow! Your blog looks really wonderful (it always has though but the refresh is quite lovely)! Can’t wait to give this recipe a try 🙂
Your new site looks beautiful, Emma! Keep up the good work!
Beauty!! Emma this new site design is absolutely gorgeous, and so easy to navigate, I especially love the new header. This curry looks delicious, I’m always so hesitant to make my own curry paste (it seems like such an undertaking), but reading your recipe, it actually sounds quite simple, can’t wait to try it!
Love the new design Emma! And that recipe index is a dream. Love this recipe too + hearing about the exciting things you have in store down the road here. Hope you’re week is extra wonderful <3
Hope you do come to Melbourne soon!
Congrats on the blog makeover! This looks absolutely amazing. I love the idea of using kale in this.
Beautiful,beautiful,beautiful!!!
The site looks wonderful keep it up Emma
Thank you so much Emma, I’m glad that you’re happy and that I could help 🙂
I love your photography and presentation! Food looks fabulous.
Wowzer! I didn’t think your blog needed a makeover, but now that I navigate thru this new version, I must say it really is stunning!
And this curry, what a clever way to use kale. Must, must, must try!
i love to eat eggs
Your new design is stunning! I can’t aait to see future recipies <3
The new site looks fantastic! The new header and everything – Aaaah <3 The recipe index is soo pretty… I think now your site is so much more your style like I know it from your two books, which are total gems btw! Much love! Julia
My husband is not a fan of veggies but I think he will like this. There’s only one way to find out!
Hi Emma, we met in Sri Lanka couple of months back at the Cinnamon Travel Bloggers’ Conference and I was relieved to find the sole food blogger there! A shout out from Sri Lanka! Hope to see you around soon 🙂
PS- The new blog looks fantastic!
This looks delicious! I’ll definitely give it a try!