Devil’s curry is a Boxing Day staple in Eurasian families. Eurasians are descendants of mixed marriages between Asians and the Europeans who settled around ports in the Straits of Malacca between the 16-18th centuries. One of these, is the Kristang, people of mixed Portuguese and Malaccan descent based in Malaysia and Singapore. In the Kristang language, “curry debal” means “leftover curry”. The similarity of the words debal and devil, paired with spiciness of the dish, lead to it being adopted into the English language as “devil’s curry”.
Traditionally, a devil’s curry was a way to make good use of your Christmas Day roast and associated leftovers. These days, many people make devil’s curry from fresh ingredients because it is very tasty. But, to be true to the origin, I made this out of our Christmas dinner leftovers. In this vegan devil’s curry, I use homemade Vegan Okara Spam Luncheon Meat. You can use any vegan hotdog or sausage or meatloaf-like thing. For the vegan protein, I used Meat Magic, a Philippine-made product. You can also use any seitan or tofu.
The white vinegar in this curry is an interesting ingredient. Originally, it would be used to tenderize and cut through the oil of the leftover Christmas dinner meat. Although we are using vegan proteins in this dish, the vinegar is still a good addition as it brightens the flavour. The sourness also helps take the edge off the extreme spiciness of the chillies. This spicy and tangy vegan devil’s curry will help you recover from your heavy Christmas feasting!
At a Eurasian table, there is usually always both rice and a crusty bread, like baguette. For me, this curry is definitely better with bread!
Ingredients
- Spice Paste
Instructions
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- If your leftovers are crumbly, like my vegan luncheon meat, it is better to pan-fry it first.
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- Add the softer vegan proteins into the curry and mix, cook to heat and combine for about 2 minutes.
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