Name: Mixed Spiced Vegetables Wrapped in Banana Leaves
Yield: makes 6-8 little packets, to be served with a main course
Cuisine: Asia
Ingredients: 2 shallots, chopped; 1–3 large chillies, deseeded and chopped; 2 tbsp chopped spring onions; 1 tsp ground coriander; 2 candlenuts or macadamia nuts, chopped; 1 tsp chopped ginger; 2 garlic cloves, chopped; 1 banana leaf; 1 medium-sized bitter gourd (not more than 400 g/14 oz); a handful of mint or holy basil leaves; 115 g/ 4 oz beansprouts, roots discarded; salt; ¼ tsp ground turmeric; 2 kaffir lime leaves, shredded; 1 large red pepper, preferably the large, long Sweet Romano, deseeded and cut into rounds or julienne strips; 115 ml/ 4 fl oz coconut milk

Preparation info

makes
6-8
little packets, to be served with a main course

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

New Wave Asian

By Sri Owen

Published 2002

About

Every Southeast Asian country – indeed, almost every region – has its own way of cooking mixed vegetables or fish or shellfish in a banana-leaf parcel. This is certainly true of the Central Javanese city of Yogyakarta, where I was a student. A favourite street food was fresh rice-straw mushrooms in banana leaves. When I returned to Yogya in 1987 I met Madhur Jaffrey, who was filming one of her TV series. We w