Malaysian Lemongrass and Ginger Curry
Aromatic curry powder and ginger are cooked gently with onion petals, lemongrass and coconut milk to create a fragrant, layered base. Chickpeas and cauliflower bring bite and comfort in equal measure. Finished with a generous squeeze of lemon, it’s bright, warming, and quietly bold.
Photographed truthfully. If you cook it, yours will look like mine.
Ingredients
Ginger purée
- 160 g ginger | fresh; unpeeled weight
- 75 ml water
Other ingredients
- 2 unit red chilli | mild and fat
- 500 g brown onion | unpeeled weight
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- ½ tbsp curry powder
- 35 g soft light brown sugar
- 2 pinches salt
- 2 tsp lemongrass purée
- 15 g stock cube | use gluten-free if required
- 37 ml lemon juice
- 2 pinches ground cinnamon | measure in 1/16 tsp
- ¼ tsp turmeric
- ¼ tsp salt
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 240 g chickpeas | cooked weight
- 200 g cauliflower | chopped into small, bite-sized florets
Ingredients for serving
- 5 g fresh coriander | chopped and sprinkled over the top
- 1 unit lemon | cut into wedges
Instructions
Prepare the ginger purée
- Peel the ginger, roughly chop into smallish chunks and place into the food processer. Add the water. Switch on and let the processor blend the ginger for around 8 minutes. Keep opening the blender and use a spatula to push the ginger from the sides. Leave it for as long as you can. I add the water to help this process and it is cooked off later.160 g ginger, 75 ml water
Make the curry
- Peel the onions and chop into petals that are approximately 1.5cm wide (at the widest point). Slit the red chillis lengthways, scrape out the seeds and finely slice.500 g brown onion, 2 unit red chilli
- Add the oil to the large frying pan, and add a low heat. Allow the oil and the pan to heat up.2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- Add the curry powder to the warmed oil and stir around. Wait until you can smell the curry powder before adding the ginger purée.½ tbsp curry powder
- Add the ginger purée and mix with the fragrant curry powder. Mix and stir, allowed the water from the purée to evaporate. Watch the ginger slowly become a darker colour.
- When the ginger/spice mix is thicker and more fragrant, add the sugar to the centre of the pan, and stir it around – little circles to big circles – with the spoon to incorporate it with the ginger/spice mix . Listen! You will hear the sound of the mix in the pan change when the sugar is in... it starts to sound a bit 'crispier', like something is happening. It makes a lot of sense to cook this mix really well. Go slow on the heat if you need to.35 g soft light brown sugar
- Add the onion petals and red chill slithers and salt, and mix everything thoroughly. Proceed to cook the onion petals with the red chilli slithers until they are softened and becoming translucent.2 pinches salt
- Add the lemongrass purée and stir to mix.2 tsp lemongrass purée
- Crumble the stock cubes into the centre of the pan, add the lemon juice over the stock cubes, and mix and cook. Add the cinnamon and turmeric, and mix.15 g stock cube, 37 ml lemon juice, 2 pinches ground cinnamon, ¼ tsp turmeric
- Add the coconut milk, mix and stir together, and simmer on a low heat for around 15 minutes, until the sauce has reduced, thickened and changed colour (become a darker colour). The amount of time you need here depends on so many factors: temperature in the room, ventilation, windows open or closed, draughts, exact heat under the pan... Just watch for it becoming thicker and do the spoon test: the sauce will coat the back of a spoon. You'll know when it's right. Taste it. Perhaps add the 1/4 tsp salt. Personally, I think it needed just a little more salt but you must taste it yourself and make your own decision.400 ml coconut milk, ¼ tsp salt
- Towards the end of cooking, steam the cauliflower for a few minutes. Meantime, add the chickpeas to the sauce and warm through. Finally, add the steamed cauliflower and stir.240 g chickpeas, 200 g cauliflower
- Serve topped with fresh coriander and a lemon wedge on the side.5 g fresh coriander, 1 unit lemon
Video
Nutrition
Calories: 448kcalCarbohydrates: 42gProtein: 9gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 19gPolyunsaturated Fat: 6gMonounsaturated Fat: 2gSodium: 1019mgPotassium: 735mgFiber: 8gSugar: 18gVitamin A: 115IUVitamin C: 40mgCalcium: 100mgIron: 5mg
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.
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