Daun Pegaga aka Centella, Gotu Kola or the Asiatic Pennywort is mostly eaten raw in Ulam, a Malaysian rice salad or cooked 'masak lemak' style, that is, in coconut milk gravy.
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| Centella In Turmeric Coconut Gravy |
It's also delicious in Urap, an Indonesian salad consisting of steamed vegetables mixed with seasoned grated coconut. I will try it this way one day. For now, I'm having my Daun Pegaga in a yummy coconut gravy with pounded fresh turmeric, strips of dried squid and anchovies. The aroma was tantalising and I felt an urge to eat it fresh out of the pan even before it touched the dinner table. Tsk, tsk!
Below is a picture of Daun Pegaga. It is a little tougher than most greens I know and is mildly bitter-tasting but not unpleasant. I munched away quite happy with the flavour.
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| Daun Pegaga / Centella Asiatica / Gotu Kola |
Daun Pegaga Masak Lemak (Centella In Turmeric Coconut Gravy)
Ingredients:
- 40g daun pegaga (snip roots away, cut in half)
- 1 lemongrass (smashed)
- 1 red chilli (pounded)
- ½ thumb fresh turmeric (pounded)
- 15 dried anchovies (rinsed)
- 1 tbsp dried squid strips (optional) (soaked for 10 mins and rinsed)
- ½ cup coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- ⅛ tsp salt (to taste)
- Half ⅛ tsp sugar (to taste)
Method:
1) Heat milk and water in pan. Bring to a simmer, just below boiling point.
2) Then, add lemongrass, turmeric, chilli, dried anchovies and dried squid strips. Cook for a couple of minutes for the flavour to come together. Stir constantly and keep it from boiling.
3) Season with salt and sugar.
4) Finally, add in daun pegaga. Cook until done like you would any green leafy vegetable.
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| From top-left : Ingredients, Simmer All The Ingredients, Serve! |
Best eaten with rice.
You are good in cooking, i must learn from you...
ReplyDeleteThank you for making my day, Sharon .. :)
DeleteSo delicious, light yet very flvoursome! I love it, Sharon.
ReplyDeleteGlad that you do, Angie .. xx
DeleteSharon, this is such an interesting way of cooking these greens. Here they are mostly teamed with fish but without the coconut milk. I'd love to try your version one day. Looks delicious! When I was young the paste of ground pennywort leaves mixed with a bit of water was the magic healer of many tummy upsets!:)
ReplyDeleteI need to try that, Kanak - with fish! It sounds delicious. I never knew that about the pennywort. It seems there's more to the plant than I thought. ^.^
DeleteI have never seen this green, let alone tasted it...is sure looks tasty, especially with all the flavors in it.
ReplyDeleteHave a wonderful week Sharon :)
Thanks, Juliana. It is hard to find, but really exciting if you can get your hands on some. ;)
Deletethe dish looks delicious :D
ReplyDelete