Western Sumatran Rendang

‘Another success. Fabulous depth of flavour and subtle spices…’
Lindsay W, Kendal; Food Customer

✨ Before We Begin…

Deeply flavoured with lemongrass, ginger, and coconut, this rendang gets better after a day or two. Freezer-friendly and perfect for gatherings.

‘Must be best food offer, of any genre, in Kendal. Hugely accomplished cooking and very much recommended.’
Tony P, Kendal; Food Customer

The Cook’s Mind

What This Recipe Helps You Practise

• Blending paste to true smoothness.
• Cooking spices gently to release flavour.
• Balancing sweetness, sourness, and spice.
• Caramelising squash for texture.
• Finishing with tamarind and coconut milk.

Make-Ahead

• Sauce can be made in advance and frozen.
• Squash and chickpeas added on the day.

Freezer-Friendly

• Base freezes well, add veg on day.
• Freezing intensifies coconut and spice.

Key Substitutions

• Squash: substitute sweet potato with care.
• Cinnamon: add stick if using whole spices.

Cooking Parlance

• Paste: blended mix of onion, lemongrass, and ginger.
• Tempering: gently cooking spices in oil to release aroma.

Ingredient Focus

✨ Lemongrass — citrusy and fragrant.

To Ingredient Focus: Lemongrass 

Serving Suggestions

• Serve with rice and lemon wedges.
• Scatter fresh coriander on top.
• Pair with flatbreads for sharing.

Multi-Purpose Recipe

This recipe has more than one life…

• Thin into a soup with stock.
• Serve as a side alongside other curries.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• Rich, spiced, and coconut-creamy.
• Even better the next day.
• A dish to impress and share.

Handpicked to Go With This One

A few recipes that play well together — flavour friends, not just neighbours.

• Malaysian Lemongrass and Ginger Curry
• Blessed Vegan Garlic Bread – Cooking Hacks To Up Your Game
• Perfectly Cooked Rice
• Nepalese Dhal

Waste Less: How To Use Up Your Ingredient Stash!

Got something spare — a handful, a spoonful, or the end of a packet? These tags help you find other ways to use it. It’s a small step toward cooking intuitively and wasting less❣️

Western Sumatran Recipe

Western Sumatran Rendang

Julia Savory

Deeply flavoured with lemongrass, onion, and ginger, this coconut-rich rendang freezes brilliantly. Even better after a day or two, it’s perfect for sharing with friends – plant-based or otherwise.

No ratings yet

Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 18 minutes mins

Total Time 38 minutes mins

Course Dinner, Main

Cuisine Drawn from Asian Flavours

Servings 4 servings

Calories/Seving 520 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

Ingredients for the paste

• 180 g brown onion | unpeeled weight
• 2 lemongrass stalks I if your packet has 3 stalks, use them all
• 20 g fresh ginger | unpeeled weight
• 50 ml water

Ingredients for the veggies and spices

• 200 g squash | peeled weight
• 180 g red onion | unpeeled weight
• 4 cloves fresh garlic | chopped
• 60 ml olive oil
• 1 pinch salt
• ¼ tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp chilli flakes
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• water | to loosen spices
• 10 ml olive oli
• 1 pinch salt

Other sauce ingredients

• 22 g soft dark brown sugar
• 15 ml lemon juice
• 15 g tamarind paste
• 400 ml coconut milk | full fat
• 2½ ml gravy browning
• 200 g chickpeas | drained weight
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground black pepper

To serve

• rice
• fresh coriander | neatly chopped to scatter across the dish; or parsley
• lemon | wedges

Contact Julia Direct

Instructions

 

Prepare the paste

• Peel and rough chop the paste ingredients, add to a food processor and blend 8-10 minutes minimum.
  180 g brown onion, 2 lemongrass stalks, 20 g fresh ginger, 50 ml water

Check the paste is smooth enough

• Have a good look at the paste. Keep blending until it really is super smooth. It makes such a difference to the dish.

Prepare the veggies

• Wash the squash and large dice chop into chunks; peel and chop the red onions into 2-3 cm petals; peel and chop the garlic.
  200 g squash, 180 g red onion, 4 cloves fresh garlic

Cook onion, garlic and spices

• Cook the red onion and garlic in some oil, adding a pinch of salt to prevent burning; mix the spices, add to the pan and gently cook, loosening with water to facilitate mixing. The spices are being woken up by cooking them this way.
  60 ml olive oil, 1 pinch salt, ¼ tsp ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp chilli flakes, 2 tsp ground coriander, 2 tsp ground cumin, 1 tsp turmeric, water

Cook squash

• Cook the squash chunks in a fry pan with some oil, adding a pinch of salt to prevent burning. Add a lid to the pan to create some steam so you toast and caramelise the outside of the chunks, and use the steam to cook the insides of the chunks. But watch out! You want some bite in the chunks so be careful not to overcook. Keep prodding with a knife and err on the side of underdone given that the squash chunks will be added to a sauce and heated through in the sauce.
  10 ml olive oli, 1 pinch salt

Make the sauce

• Add the paste to the red onion petals and garlic pan and cook through; you need to cook the paste properly. Keep it all on a low heat and cook it. You'll see it changing colour and looking cooked. You'll smell it! Add the sugar and let it melt. Sir it around. Add the lemon juice and tamarind paste, and stir. Be really happy with this rich mix before adding the coconut milk. When you are really happy, add the coconut milk and stir through.
  22 g soft dark brown sugar, 15 ml lemon juice, 15 g tamarind paste, 400 ml coconut milk

Finesse the sauce

• Stir the sauce, let it bubble gently, enjoy seeing it thicken and coming together. Add the gravy browning slowly until you think it’s rich-looking-enough! Taste it and adjust the salt and pepper if you like. Add the squash and chickpeas and stir through.
  2½ ml gravy browning, 200 g chickpeas, 1 tsp salt, ½ tsp ground black pepper

To serve

• Serve with rice, scatter coriander across the top and put a lemon wedge on the side.
  rice, lemon, fresh coriander

Notes

• Multi-purpose: serve as a main or side; to make into soup, add 200ml of stock. You might need more, depending on how thick you like your soup. If you add too much water, just simmer with the lid off; the water will soon leave! Or if you like it watery but not thin, add one or two teaspoons of cornflour diluted with a little water. Adding water will reduce the flavour from any herbs or spices added to the dish. Don’t forget this! There’s no rule against adding the herbs and spices again in the same ratios. I will always do that if I add water.
• Freezer-friendly: allow to cool, put into a container with a tight lid, and freeze. Freezing will intensify the flavour. I would add the squash and chickpeas on the day of service.
• Make-ahead: make the sauce and freeze. Prep and cook the squash, and hold in a tub in the fridge to add to the defrosted sauce.
• Any remaining herb, chop up and put into storage boxes and pop into the fridge. I find supermarket herbs prepped and stored this way last a fair few days.
  Sweet potato can be used instead of squash but it’s not as good texturally and cooks very quickly in a fry pan so if you do use it, take care!
• Other veggies can be used instead of squash but it won’t be the same – you need the sweetness of the squash.
• Add 2 inches of cinnamon stick if using sticks not ground cinnamon.

Nutrition

Calories: 520kcalCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 9gFat: 38gSaturated Fat: 21gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 13gSodium: 641mgPotassium: 781mgFiber: 8gSugar: 14gVitamin A: 5384IUVitamin C: 22mgCalcium: 121mgIron: 7mg

Nutritional values are estimates only and will vary depending on specific ingredients used. Nutrition is per serving. Information is for the main recipe, not optional accompaniments.

Keywords coconut sauce, creamy vegan rendang, great with friends, vegan rendang

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

COPYRIGHT

© The Golden Polar Bear, 2025. Recipes and photography by Julia Savory. If you share this, please pass it along with kindness and if possible share a link back to this site. #ForTheAnimals

Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.

Next Steps?

Wave a wand and learn how to cook well. When you become a member, you get a quiet, steady place to learn – with all your videos, recipes, and pathways organised so you can cook with confidence rather than guesswork. And when you’re stuck or unsure, you can ask me directly.
A calm kitchen. Real support. Your own rhythm.

Prefer a gentler rhythm? Sign up to The Magic Spoon mailing list and I’ll drop by your inbox now and then. No noise, no clutter – just the small, steady things I’m learning and ideas to make our cooking lives easier.