Vegan Eurasian Devil Curry

I can just imagine my dear grandmother rolling in her grave at the sheer idea of a VEGAN version of this meat heavy Eurasian dish, Devil Curry! What an abomination, right?

It is sacrilegious to turn this traditional Eurasian turkey-based dish into a tofu-based one. However, with so many of our friends joining the plant-based dietary bandwagon, I just had to create a vegan version of this spicy Eurasian curry so they too can enjoy this heritage dish.

Maybe, we can call this one “Angel’s Curry”, instead. After all, it is practically sinless. It has all the flavourful spices and basic ingredients of the original dish, barring the saturated fats.

DEFINITION OF EURASIAN

Before we start indulging in this scrumptious recipe, let us take a detour for a quick history lesson. What is a Eurasian? Well for South East Asian Eurasians of mixed ancestry, like myself, our history goes way back. In fact, the term “Eurasian” was first coined in mid-nineteenth century British India. 

Due to Singapore and Malaysia’s rich colonial past, there were many marriages between Asians, British, Dutch and Portuguese. Thanks to generations of these inter-racial marriages, a creole ethnic group emerged. These Eurasians were called the “Kristang” people, Serani or even Gragok (a derogatory word that means “shrimp”). Eurasians of this mixed ancestry have their own culture, traditions, language, and best of all, food. You can read more about Eurasians in Singapore here.

The term “Eurasian” can also be used to describe those of mixed parentage, where one parent is Asian and the other is Caucasian. However, the upbringing would be influenced by only two ethnic backgrounds and two separate cultures. With Eurasians of mixed ancestry, it is a generally a complicated bag of tricks. As a hybrid of several parts east and other parts west, it is impossible to identify with just one or two races. And so, over the years, our own culture was formed – one that we heavily identify with and that unifies Eurasians from this region.

Eurasian family traditions often centre around Christian celebrations – namely Christmas and Easter – and FOOD. Devil Curry, or Kari Debal was originally made on Boxing Day, with leftovers from the Christmas Feast. In fact, that is what “debal” means in Kristang (a pidgin version of Portuguese, spoken by the older generation of Eurasians) – “leftovers”!

“Debal” means “leftovers” in Kristang! Over the years, the word “debal” became mistaken for “devil” – which works too because this is a fiery hot curry with lots of red chillies.”

DEVIL CURRY EVOKES NOSTALGIA

The recipe for this mustard-based curry, varies from family to family and is extremely personal. As a heritage dish, Eurasians are extremely protective about their Devil Curry as it far extends beyond the ingredients you put into it. It carries with it memories of childhood, tradition and identity.

For some families, it has to be cocktail sausages and chicken drumsticks, for others cabbage, lemongrass and yellow mustard. It all depends on how your grandmother’s mother made it, and what your mother remembered of the recipe, that determines what is passed on to you. The other reason why it is hard to replicate is because the original recipe lacked precise measurements. That is, until I got a kitchen scale and measuring cups to crack the code!

For me, this dish reminds me of my maternal grandparents, in the kitchen, squabbling over how much ketumbah (coriander seeds) to add and how spicy it should be. In my family, there was an unofficial competition to produce the best Devil’s Curry every Yuletide. This would sometimes result in hurt feelings, as all the aunties attempting this recipe would face comparisons and harsh criticism from my grandmother. She would exclaim how one pot lacked vinegar or the other had not enough chilli or garlic!

I wonder what she would say about this vegan version! Well, at least she’d be happy to know, I have perfected our family’s Devil Curry. It is complete with turkey, chicken and bacon bones. However, you will have to get that secret recipe in my cookbook, “Smitten in the Kitchen, 60 Recipes for Love”.

VEGAN EURASIAN DEVIL’S CURRY: THE RECIPE

Now that you have a bit of a background about this precious passed-down recipe and its significance to the Eurasian identity, here is my meatless version of this Eurasian classic. Feel free to adjust the heat level, as the amount of chilli in this is very mild. Also, you may add your favourite meat analogue to the mix, like seitan, vegan sausages or “meat” strips.

Enjoy!

Vegan Eurasian Devil Curry

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• Author: Cheryl Miles
• Total Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
• Yield: 6 1x

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Description

A popular Christmas dish amongst Eurasians in Singapore and Malaysia, this is my family’s recipe for Devil Curry BUT without the meats. Unlike other curries, which uses curry powder, this dish uses mustard powder with a touch of vinegar. It is meant to be spicy but the flavours should be well balanced. The spice level of this recipe below is very mild. Do add more chilli padis for more kick. 

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

FOR THE SPICE PASTE:

• 500g shallots or red onion (I used banana shallots)
• 15 cloves garlic
• 40g blue ginger (also known as galangal)
• 50g old ginger
• 6 candlenuts
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
• 25–30 dried chillies, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes
• 3–5 chilli padis, deseeded (this amount is for mild heat)
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder

FOR THE VINEGAR PASTE:

• 2 teaspoons mustard powder
• 3 tablespoons vinegar
• 2 teaspoons white sugar

FOR THE CURRY:

• 1/2 cup canola oil
• the blended spices above + the vinegar paste
• 1 tablespoon mustard seeds
• 1–2 big red chillies, sliced
• small knob of ginger, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 vegan stock cubes
• 4 cups water
• 400g firm tofu (also known as tau kwa), diced
• 500g egg plant, sliced
• about 680g potatoes (or 3 large ones)

FOR SERVING:

• freshly chopped cilantro leaves
• hot rice
• a side of steamed or stir fried vegetables like kailan (Chinese kale) or long beans

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Instructions

1. Prepare all the ingredients. To avoid crying, skin the shallots/onions leaving the roots on. Cut that off last.
2. Place all the spice paste ingredients listed above in a food processor. Add a tablespoon of water (or more) if needed to get the blender going. Set aside.
3. In a cast iron pot or stock pot, heat up the canola oil on medium heat. Once hot, add the mustard seeds, ginger slices and chilli. Fry until the mustard seeds start to pop. Add the blended spice paste and cook for about 20 minutes, on low heat, stirring constantly to ensure it doesn’t burn at the bottom.
4. Next, add the water and vegan stock cubes. Add only the potatoes. Allow to simmer uncovered for about 30 minutes or until the curry thickens. Stir periodically. 
5. In a small bowl, make the vinegar paste. Add this a tablespoon at a time to the curry to allow the flavours to mix in. The sugar neutralizes the acidity of the curry and balances the spiciness of the chillies. It shouldn’t make the curry taste sweet. 
6. Add the tofu and eggplant and cook for about 10 minutes more. Do not overcook or the diced tofu will crumble and disintegrate into the curry.  
7. Taste test before adding 2 teaspoons of salt, or more if needed. 
8.  Serve with hot rice, a sprinkle of fresh cilantro and a side of stir-fried vegetables. 

Notes

This curry tastes better when kept overnight. It can be kept refrigerated for up to 5 days. The meat version can be frozen but as this contains vegetables, keep it in the fridge and eat it quickly! 

• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 1 hour
• Category: Asian
• Method: Stewed
• Cuisine: Eurasian

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