Urap Sayur (Indonesian Vegetables with Coconut Topping)

2 - Lunch, Salad

Prep Time: 15 mins Cook Time: 10 mins Source: carolinescooking.com

Ingredients

3 oz green beans 85g
3 oz spinach 85g (suggest large not baby spinach)
4 oz beans sprouts 110g

For the topping:
1 mild red chili eg serrano
1 Thai red chili (birds eye chili, optional)
1 shallot or 2 if smaller
1 clove garlic or 2 if small
½ teaspoon galangal finely chopped, or ginger if not available
2 makrut lime leaves (kaffir lime leaves)
½ tablespoon coconut oil
¾ cup fresh grated coconut 75g, or use frozen and defrost
1 tablespoon palm sugar or coconut sugar/brown sugar
1 teaspoon tamarind concentrate
¼ teaspoon salt
½ tablespoon water

Directions

Start by preparing the vegetables - trim the ends off the beans then cut them into lengths of roughly 2in/5cm (unless beans are large, this is generally roughly in half). Trim the ends off the stalks from the spinach and roughly chop the spinach leaves.
Make the chili-shallot paste by roughly chopping the chilis, shallot, garlic and galangal and adding all to a mini food processor or blender and blending into a paste.
Remove the central rib from the lime leaves then finely slice the leaves.
Blanch the vegetables one vegetable at a time. Bring a pot of water to a boil and have a bowl filled with iced water nearby. Add the beans to the pot of water, cook for around 2 minutes then remove the beans and transfer to the bowl of iced water. Add the beansprouts to the pot, cook for 30 seconds then remove to the bowl of iced water. Add the spinach to the pot, cook 1 minute then remove the pot from the heat, drain and run the spinach under cold water.
Drain all of the vegetables and set aside.
Warm the coconut oil in a small skillet over a medium heat then add the chili-shallot paste. Cook for a couple minutes, stirring regularly, to become aromatic. Add the grated coconut, sliced lime leaves, palm or other sugar, tamarind, salt and water. Stir to mix everything well and cook for a couple minutes to soften and dry out slightly.
Serve the vegetables, mixed together, with the coconut mixture over the top.

Notes

Grated coconut - use fresh if possible, if not frozen. Dried desiccated coconut is much drier but would work in a pinch rehydrated with water - just add enough water to the coconut until it feels relatively soft. In the photos here I had larger chunks of coconut which I put in the food processor which can also work well.

Makrut lime leaves - these can also be called kaffir lime leaves. If you can't find fresh leaves, it's best to skip as dried don't really work here. Instead, you could add a little grated lime zest to give a little of that zesty flavor.

Galangal - this can be harder to find, and you may only find it in dried powder form. If so, you can use a little of the powder (about ¼ tsp). If neither are available, use ginger as next-closest.

Tamarind - this is now relatively widely available, at least in Asian supermarkets and also online. You can soak pieces of the pulp from a block and many argue the flavor is better. But I tend to keep the concentrate in the fridge for easy use so have suggested that here - use as you have/prefer.

Palm sugar - this is the traditional sweetener, though you can also use coconut sugar or brown sugar which are relatively similar in flavor instead.

Chilis - you most likely won't get quite the same chilis as would traditionally be used and you can vary them a little to taste anyway. Typically, you use a milder red chili and then add some hot Thai red chilis for heat, if you want to. The extra heat is optional depending on your preference.

Nutrition