Vegetable Sour Spicy Curry Recipe (Asam Pedas)

Vegetable sour spicy curry, referring to a Malaysian curry, is literally vegetable asam pedas. Asam pedas is known as kuah in Bahasa Malaysia, which means gravy or curry. The core ingredient for non-vegetarian asam pedas is fish, usually fresh local Malaysian catch. But for a vegetable or vegetarian asam pedas, it’s a mix of Malaysian vegetables - refer to the ingredients list to see what they are (TAMARIND/ASAM FRIED FISH).

 

That said, the Malaysian mix of blended local herbs, known as rempah, is what matters most. The spice mix must have the right balance of sourness, spiciness, and saltiness. While cooking the rempah, tasting as you go is key to making a delicious sour spicy curry. Still, it is a simple cooking style and budget-friendly, using Malaysian ingredients, which includes popular Asian herbs (MALAYSIAN MUTTON CURRY).

Vegetarian Asam Pedas

Ingredients

For the Asam Paste (Blend)

Dried red chilies - per taste 

5 shallots

5 garlic cloves

1 inch galangal

½ inch ginger

1 lemongrass stalk

½ inch fresh turmeric

Other Ingredients 
1 block white tofu - sliced
Some French beans - sliced
¼ cabbage - sliced
1 tomato - sliced
1-2 pieces dried tamarind
1 turmeric leaf - sliced
A small piece of palm sugar
Water - as needed
¼ cup oil
Salt, to taste

Method

Heat oil in a pan and fry blended asam paste until aromatic and oil splits. 

Pour in water, add sliced tomato and dried tamarind. 

Simmer for a couple of minutes. 

Add sliced cabbage, French beans, and tofu to the pan.

Season with palm sugar and salt. 

Simmer till vegetables are cooked.

Remove from heat.

Combine in turmeric leaf. 

Do refer to the our YouTube cooking video for the Malaysian Malay-style Vegetable Sour Spicy Curry/Asam Pedas.