Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Sambal Prawns


 My mum used to cook Sambal Prawns and remember eating it with fond memories. This is similar to her recipe but because of availability of certain ingredients, I have substituted or omitted some of the ingredients. In Malaysia, this dish is called Sambal Udang. Traditionally, the paste is pounded in a pestle and mortar, which can be therapeutic but time consuming. But if you have a blender, the preparation time is reduced.

Ingredients
500g raw prawns(peeled and devein)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tbsp tamaind paste
4 tbsp oil
4 tomatoes, quartered

Paste Ingredients
10 red chillies (deseed and cut into pieces) - check how spicy the chilli that you are using is and reduce the number if very spicy
12 red shallots (I used 1 red onion - cut into small wedges)
1 stalk lemon grass (cut into small pieces)
3 candelnuts (I used 8 blanched raw almonds)
1.5 x 2.5 x 0.5 cm piece of shrimp paste/belacan (I omitted this)


Steps
  1. Season peeled and deveined prawns with sugar and salt.
  2. Blend the paste ingredients in a blender or if you prefer in a pestle and mortar.
  3. Prepare 1 cup tamarind juice by pouring  a little more than 1 cup of hot water to the tamarind paste in a cup or bowl. Strain it.
  4. Heat oil in a wok or pan and fry the blended ingredients till well cooked (about 4-5 minutes).
  5. Add prawns and stir until prawns are lightly cooked.
  6. Add tomatoes and tamarind juice. Stir and simmer until the prawns are cooked.
  7. Season with salt and sugar according to taste.
  8. Serve with some cooked rice. 
Note: You can add some curry leaves when frying the paste. This would make it very fragrant. Sometimes, I would crack an egg at the end of the cooking process and lightly stir it until partially cooked. This idea is similar to Chilli Crabs.
 
Blend the paste ingredients in a blender.

Frying the blended paste in a wok under medium heat.

Prawns are lightly cooked. Add tomatoes and tamarind juice. Stir and simmer until prawns are cooked.

Season with salt and sugar. Ready to be served with some cooked rice.



5 comments:

Argus Lou said...

Looks really good. One feels warm on a cold day by eating hot, steaming rice with curry. :)

I too make this but also with one or two dried chillies in the spice puree. Can't seem to use more than two red chillies as more would make it too spicy for us. I am a chilli wimp!

My Food Safari said...

We can take quite spicy food. But it depends on the spiciness of the chillies as to how many to use.

Sometimes I add an egg at the end and leave it half cooked.

My Food Safari said...

Thanks Ana for dropping by and pointing me to Fooduel.com. I will look into in and participate.

My Food Safari said...

Thanks for dropping by. Will look into foodieportal.com

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