Prawn and Pineapple Curry

Cook Time 1 hour

Servings 5 - 6

Ingredients

1 kg prawns de-shelled and cleaned OR 650g of a firm fleshed fish
500g pineapple, cut into 6mm triangles
500ml water
3 pieces dried tamarind, rehydrated
5 kaffir lime leaves
350 ml coconut milk
2-3 tsp salt
3 tbsp caster sugar
2 tbsp lime juice for balancing

Rempah (wet spice paste)
15-20 dried long red chillies*, deseeded*, soaked in boiling water until soft, drained and chopped
2 ½ tsp belacan (fermented dry shrimp paste)
3 cm fresh galangal, peeled, sliced finely
4 stalks lemongrass (white part only), sliced finely
300g red eschallots OR Spanish onion, peeled and sliced
3 large cloves garlic, peeled and halved
5 candlenuts or macadamia nuts
170ml vegetable oil

Serve with steamed jasmine rice and wedges of cucumber just in case your lips need cooling!

Method

Blitz all rempah ingredients in a blender until you achieve a fine paste.

Heat rempah in a large, heavy based saucepan or wok on medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring continuously until caramelised and fragrant. At this point the rempah should have turned a darker red and the oil will begin to separate from the rest of mixture.

Add pineapple, water, tamarind, kaffir lime leaves and bring to boil, then reduce heat to simmer for another 10 minutes. Add coconut milk, salt and sugar and bring to boil, then add prawns/fish at very end to cook for 5-10 minutes or until cooked through. Taste just before serving. More salt, sugar or lime juice may be required to balance flavours at the end.