Recipe Ingredient
- 200g salted kurau, soaked for one to two hours and cut into 2cm-thick pieces
- (Drain well on absorbent kitchen towel and dry in the sun for two hours or until completely dry)
- Spices:
- 5cm ginger, ground
- 5 cloves garlic, ground
- 2 tbsp chilli paste
- 1/2 tsp turmeric powder
- 1/4 tsp cumin powder (jintan putih)
- 1/2 tsp fennel powder (jintan manis)
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp mustard seeds (biji sawi), fried without oil and pounded
- 1/4 tsp fenugreek (halba), pounded
- 5 shallots, sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced
- 2 stalks curry leaves, use leaves only
- 50ml good quality rice vinegar
- 50ml tamarind juice (from 25g tamarind mixed with 100ml water)
- Seasoning:
- 3 to 4 tbsp sugar or to taste
- A pinch of salt or to taste
Instructions
- Heat enough oil in a wok to deep-fry salted fish slices until golden brown. Drain well and set aside.
- Heat 4 tbsp oil and stir-fry sliced shallots and garlic until limp. Add mustard seeds, fenugreek and curry leaves and saute until fragrant. Add the rest of the spice ingredients and stir-fry well.
- Blend in vinegar, tamarind juice and sugar. Bring to a boil then simmer until gravy is thick and the oil has separated.
- Cool the gravy then stir in salted fish pieces. Add salt to taste. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds. Dish out and keep in clean, dry bottles.