Sayur lemak is a beautiful, mild vegetable and coconut curry of Malaysian and Indonesian origin, which I’ve eaten in Singapore and also at Dapur, a fantastic Malaysian cafe in Holborn, London. With apologies, I’ve made a few adaptations to the traditional recipe. Mine doesn’t contain shrimp paste and, instead of fresh chillies, which are sometimes unreliable with respect to their heat, I’ve used the magical sambal oelek, a fresh-tasting and very reliable chilli paste that will happily live in your fridge, ready to be deployed endlessly to add zing to whatever you’re cooking.
Sayur lemak with tempeh, aubergine and spinach
Tempeh, a fermented soy bean-based product, is now readily available in most large supermarkets – I use Tofoo’s tempeh, or the one made by Tempeh Meades. Sambal oelek is available in most south-east Asian supermarkets and online. You’ll need a blender for this.
Prep 15 min
Cook 50 min
Serves 4
600g aubergine, quartered and cut into 2½cm wedges
Rapeseed oil
Fine sea salt
400g tempeh, cut into 2½cm x 2½cm pieces
1 large or 2 medium banana shallots, peeled and roughly chopped (100g net)
4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
4 makrut lime leaves (fresh or frozen and defrosted), deveined
2 lemongrass stalks, woody ends cut off and discarded, the rest roughly chopped
1 tsp ground turmeric
3 tbsp sambal oelek – I like the Lucullus brand
1 tbsp dark muscovado sugar
400ml tin coconut milk
200g baby spinach
Steamed jasmine rice, to serve
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6, and line two large baking trays with reusable baking paper. Put the aubergine wedges in a bowl, add two tablespoons of oil and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, and toss well with your hands to coat. Tip out on to one of the lined baking trays and spread out the pieces so they’re not on top of each other.
Put the pieces of tempeh in the same bowl, pour over a tablespoon of oil and sprinkle with a quarter-teaspoon of salt, then toss to coat. Tip the tempeh on to the second baking tray and spread it out. Roast both trays in the oven for 30 minutes, then remove and set aside.
In the meantime, put the shallots, garlic, lime leaves, lemongrass, turmeric, sambal oelek, sugar and two tablespoons of oil in a blender and blitz to a smooth paste; if the mixture needs help, add a little more oil.
Once the aubergines and tempeh have had their 30 minutes, put a wide, nonstick frying pan for which you have a lid on a medium heat. Once it’s hot, add the curry paste and cook, stirring often, for five minutes. Add a half-teaspoon of salt, the coconut milk and 100ml water to the pan, stir to mix, then add the roast aubergines and tempeh. Mix again, then add the spinach a handful at a time, until it wilts. Pop the lid on the pan, leave the curry to bubble away for five minutes, then serve over freshly steamed jasmine rice.
