Cassava Leaves Curry

Cassava is a growing staple food that can feed the starving people of the world.  Most Westerners knows cassava as the tapioca plant, the root are made into tapioca for your tapioca pudding, and the cooked roots taste a lot like potato.  Cassava leaves and roots are high in hydrocyanic acid which is poisonous, but when cooked, the acid disappears, and be sure to discard the water the leaves are boil in. Cassava leaves must be cooked for at least 10 minutes.

Cassava leaves don’t have much flavor and absorb any flavoring that you add. So adding spices, meats, and other veggies enhances the flavor.  Cassava leaves are a staple in Indonesian cooking.

Cassava leaves curry is one of the dishes you can find easily when you visit a Padang restaurant which I almost always choose whenever I eat there.  In West Sumatera, this curry is usually made from fiddlehead, that’s why they call it “gulai daun paku”. However cassava leaves are widely used in making this dish. If you have trouble finding cassava leaves, you can actually substitute them with equal amount of kale, but be sure to discard the hard part of the leaves.

For those who don’t know,  100 grams of cooked cassava leaves provides about 3.7 grams of protein which is pretty good for a green leafy veggie. And the leaves contain different types of proteins comparable to eggs and soybeans. And cassava leaves contain lysine, isoleucine, leucine, valine, and lots of arginine which are not common in green leafy plants… thus making it a great protein source. The amazing protein content of cassava leaves is also comparable to sweet potato leaves and peanut leaves, and up to 10 times more protein is found in cassava leaves than in the roots.

Cassava Leaves Curry

For recipe in Indonesian, click HERE

Ingredients:

·         2 bunch of cassava leaves (about 300 gram), washed and drained

·         1 inch fresh galangal, bruised

·         1 lemongrass, bruised

·         2 teaspoon salt

·         1 teaspoon sugar

·         1 teaspoon dried shrimp, brewed, roasted, mashed

·         100 gram fried anchovies (I use ‘teri medan’)

·         1 fresh turmeric leaf

·         600 ml water

·         400 ml  thick coconut milk

·         Oil for frying

Spice for the paste:

·         10 shallots

·         4 cloves garlic

·         3 red chilies

·         2 inch fresh turmeric, burned

Directions:

1.       Boil the cassava leaves with salt until tender. Set aside to drain, then roughly slice.

2.       Heat oil in a frying pan, fry the anchovies until golden brown, set aside.

3.       Put all ingredients for the seasoning paste in a blender or food processor, and blend until smooth (add a little bit of oil to help the blending process if necessary).

4.       Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a saucepan, stir-fry the paste with galangal, lemongrass, and turmeric leaf until fragrant. Add the dried shrimp.  Mix well.

5.       Transfer the paste to a larger saucepan. Add in the water and bring to boil over medium heat. Add the cassava leaves which have been roughly sliced.  Pour in the thick coconut milk, bring to boil then reduce the heat while continue stirring for 15-20 minutes. Add the fried anchovies.

6.       Adjust the seasoning, add salt and sugar to taste.

Bahasa Indonesia

Bahan:

·         2 ikat daun singkong (sekitar 300 gram), cuci dan tiriskan

·         3 cm lengkuas, memarkan

·         1 batang serai, memarkan

·         2 sendok teh garam

·         1 sendok the gula pasir

·         1 sendok the ebi, sangria dan haluskan

·         1 lembar daun kunyit

·         600 ml air

·         400 ml santan kental

Bumbu halus:

·         10 butir bawang merah

·         4 siung bawang putih

·         3 buah cabe merah

·         5 cm kunyit, dibakar

Cara:

1.       Rebus daun singkong dan 1 sendok teh garam dalam 1.000 ml air sampai matang.  Angkat, tiriskan, peras, dam iris kasar.  Sisihkan.

2.       Panaskan minyak, goring ikan teri medan setengah matang. Sisihkan.

3.       Blender semua bahan untuk bumbu halus.

4.       Panaskan 2 sendok makan minyak. Tumis bumbu halus, lengkuas, serai, dan daun kunyit sampai harum. Masukkan ebi, aduk rata.

5.       Pindahkan ke dalam panci yang lebih besar.  Tuang air dan masak hingga hampir mendidih.  Masukkan irisan daun singkong.  Tuang santan kental dan masak sampai mendidih sambil terus diaduk.  Masukkan ikan teri medan, aduk rata.

6.       Tambahkan garam dan gula sesuai selera.