During my recent trip to Bali (for surfing!), I took a cooking class dedicated to Balinese Cuisine. Anika Cooking Class, in Kuta, taught me a variety of meals – in fact, I (and three other students) made around 10 different dishes!
The “Bean and Coconut Salad” (“Urab Buncis”) was definitely one of my favourites. This may partly be attributed to the sambal goreng (fried chilli seasoning) which is prepared beforehand and incorporated into the beans, coconut, and curry sauce. This type of sambal is crunchy, flavourful, and savoury!
I have greatly adapted the original recipe to suit the ingredients available to me and my own tastes. However, if you ever go to Bali and are interested in taking the Anika Cooking Class, ensure you go on a day when they make their Bean and Coconut Salad!
This recipe can be gluten-free, grain-free, vegan, dairy-free, low-carb, and nut-free.
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
– coconut oil, for ‘deep frying’
– 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
– 3-4 chillies, deseeded and thinly sliced (I used small, hot ones!)
– 1/2 smallish brown onion, thinly sliced
– 500 grams frozen green beans, cooked and thinly sliced
– other 1/2 of brown onion, diced
– 1/2 teaspooon turmeric powder
– 1/2 teaspoin ground coriander
– 1 clove garlic, extra, minced
– 1 teaspoon sliced lemongrass (I used the one from a jar)
– 1/2 cup water
– 1/2 can coconut cream
– 1/2 cup thread/ shredded coconut, toasted
Method:
1. Heat the coconut oil in a small frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the garlic, chillies, and onion, then reduce the heat to medium if need be (make sure it isn’t too hot!). Stir constantly, until the garlic is beginning to brown and the onion is golden. Strain and reserve the chilli oil for another use.
2. Cook the green beans in boiling water, by steamer, or microwaving. Slice them into thin rounds (this took a while, so if you’re short on time, don’t worry about doing it).
3. Use a bit of the reserved chilli oil to cook the (diced) onion, turmeric, coriander, garlic, and lemongrass. Once fragrant and the onion is clear, add the water and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the coconut cream and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
4. Combine 2/3 of the sambal goreng with all the beans, curry sauce, and toasted coconut. Serve with the remaining sambal as a side dish (can be eaten hot, cold, warm – I prefer room temperature), and enjoy! 🙂
