Kare Ikan (fish Curry)

Total Time: 25 mins Preparation Time: 5 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 4
• 1 1/2 lbs cleaned fish fillets
• 6 shallots or 1 large onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon dried lemon grass or 1 piece fresh lemongrass
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 salam leaf or 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/2 cup tamarind juice
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• salt
• 1 slice cucumber
• mint

Recipe

• 1 whatever fish is used, it can be cut into small cubes or slices before frying.
• 2 heat a little oil in a heavy frying-pan, and carefully brown the fish in it.
• 3 meanwhile, in another frying-pan, fry the chopped shallots (or onion) and garlic until tender.
• 4 stir in the chilli, ginger, turmeric, coriander, lemon grass, salam, salt and tamarind water.
• 5 let this mixture simmer for 10 minutes, then put in the fish.
• 6 cover, and simmer for another 10 minutes.
• 7 add the santen and cook for a further 5 minutes.
• 8 serve hot, garnished with very thin slices of cucumber and chopped mint.
• 9 (alternatively, put the cucumber and mint into the kare itself for the last 2 minutes of cooking.) incidentally, the same care can be made with prawns.
• 10 there is no need to fry the prawns separately; but fry them in the mixture of onion, etcetera for a few minutes before you put in the tamarind water.