Gulai Daun Singkong is a luscious, creamy dish of cassava leaves simmered in spicy santan, infused with the earthiness of turmeric and galangal.
Cassava arrived in Indonesia from the Americas via the Portuguese in the 17th century, but the leaves entered Minang and Javanese kitchens later as a plant-the-tuber-eat-everything thrift dish. Gulai itself is the Sumatran-Malay coconut curry method, a South Asian-influenced technique from centuries of Indian Ocean trade. The leaf version is humble Padang home cooking, scaled up for warung use.
Cassava leaf came after the tuber arrived from the Americas via 17th-century Portuguese trade — a plant-the-root-eat-everything Padang thrift dish. The 45-minute simmer isn't slow cooking; it's necessary detox: cassava leaf carries cyanogenic glycosides that only cook out as gas with sustained heat.
Cassava leaves stewed long in coconut milk gone red-orange from chili and turmeric, with galangal, lemongrass, and lime leaf at the surface. The leaves go almost black-green and tender, soaked through with santan. A staple plate at any Padang nasi kapau spread; eaten with rice as the green counterweight to rendang or fried fish.
Cassava leaves contain cyanogenic glycosides — raw they're toxic. Long simmer (45+ minutes) is non-negotiable: heat plus water releases the cyanide as gas. The pre-pound is also important: leaves are bruised in a mortar before stewing, breaking cell walls so they soften without disintegrating. Skip pounding and the leaves stay leathery even after an hour.
Variations
Padang nasi kapau standard pairs with rendang and fried fish; Manado version (utan singkong) leans on torch ginger and lighter coconut; Javanese sayur daun singkong is thinner, with tempeh.
On the Palate
Where Gulai Daun Singkong sits in the Indonesian flavor cloud
Ingredients
How it's made
5 steps · 1 hour 15 min
- 18 min
Boil cassava leaves until tender, then drain.
Watch outThe leaves are ready to drain when they've gone fully soft and lost every trace of raw green stiffness.
- 25 min
Create a bumbu with turmeric, galangal, lemongrass, garlic, shallot, and bird's eye chili.
- 38 min
Fry the bumbu until aromatic, then add the leaves.
Watch outFry the bumbu until the raw smell of shallot and garlic is gone and the oil around it turns fragrant and glossy.
- 415 min
Pour in santan, add bay leaf and salam leaf, and simmer until the sauce thickens.
Watch outKeep it at a bare simmer and let it reduce slowly until the sauce coats the back of a spoon and a slick of coconut oil beads at the edge.
- 52 min
Season with salt to taste before serving.
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