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Jackfruit curry in a brown bowl with white rice and fresh red chilli on top, sat on top of a white doily with spoons to the right
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Easy Indonesian Jackfruit Rendang

Jackfruit rendang is a slow-cooked, deliciously spicy, fragrant and filling Indonesian curry, that we're sure will be a hit!
Course Dinner
Cuisine Indonesian
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 40 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 520kcal
Author Jess & Dan

Ingredients

  • 6 red chillies
  • 6 cloves garlic – peeled
  • 6 shallots – peeled
  • 3 sticks lemongrass – 2 for the paste and 1 to simmer
  • 1 tablespoon turmeric powder
  • 500 ml coconut milk
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 cloves
  • 4 cardamom pods
  • 2 star anise
  • 4 kaffir lime leaves – finely shredded
  • 750 g unripe jackfruit – drained and chopped into 1cm chunks
  • 3 cups water + 2 tablespoons
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1 tablespoon lime juice – roughly half a lime
  • 1 teaspoon salt
Metric - US Customary

Instructions

  • To make the paste, blend the chillies, garlic, shallots, 2 of the lemongrass sticks and turmeric powder with 2 tablespoon of water to make a thick paste.
  • In a wok, heat up a splash of oil and add in all of the paste. Cook for a few minutes until the oil separates.
  • Pour in the coconut milk.
  • Pop the cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise and cardamom pods into the wok. To make it easier to find them later, you could put them in a sealed muslin pouch, then add them to the wok.
  • Put the jackfruit in along with 2 cups of water, and stir well.
  • Tie the lemongrass in a knot, and add it to the pan.
  • Next add the finely sliced kaffir lime leaf, lime juice and sugar.
  • Simmer the curry for 1hr30 minutes, uncovered. Keep an eye on it and if it starts to look like it’s drying out, add one more cup of water.
  • Check to see if the jackfruit is cooked. Take two forks and pull the jackfruit apart. It should shred easily, it’s doesn’t, it’s not quite done. Simmer it for another 15-30 minutes if it’s not quite ready. Check it after the first 15 minutes, if it pulls apart easily, take it off the heat.
  • Season with 1 teaspoon of salt, stir well and serve with rice.

Notes

  • If you’re using canned young jackfruit you can reduce the initial simmer time by 30 minutes. But keep an eye on it. We wouldn’t want it to dry out.
  • You could consider putting the whole spices in a muslin bag. That way you can pop them in the curry in the small bag, and easily take them out at the end without spending ages searching for them.
  • Tying the lemongrass in a knot means it’s easier to find and remove at the end too.
  • Use a pair of scissors to shred the kaffir lime leaves, instead of a knife. It will be much easier to cut them finely this way.
  • If you'd like, you can use half a tablespoon of tamarind paste instead of lime juice, this is more traditional. We used lime juice as it's a more common ingredient.

Nutrition

Calories: 520kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 28g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 641mg | Potassium: 980mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 10g | Vitamin A: 655IU | Vitamin C: 106mg | Calcium: 174mg | Iron: 8mg