Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- curry leaves, about 3-4 twigs
- fresh ginger, about 2 tablespoons, chopper
- 3-4 shallots, sliced
- 6-7 cloves of garlic
- 4 teaspoons of tamarind pulp, soaked in hot water. if using concentrate half the amount
- 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 500 grams fish or prawn
Masala:
- 1 teaspoon tumeric
- 1 teaspoon ground fenugreek
- 4 teaspoons chilli powder (you can mix and substitute portion of it with paprika; even half-half can come out rather spicy
Method:
- put the tamarind pulp in hot water and set aside, about half a cup should do
- heat oil in a frying pan, toss in curry leaves and mustart seeds. Fry until the mustard seeds start to pop
- add ginger, garlic, and shallots, fry for a few minutes
- mix all the dry spices with some water, until paste is formed. Add to the pan and fry until it changes colour
- add the tamarind along with about a teaspoon of salt
- for fish, add about 250 mililtres of water (a cup), half that amount for prawns
- add fish or prawns. stir a bit, but leave it be gently simmering beyond that – otherwise the fish will fall apart
- simmer the fish for a bout 20-25 minutes, 10-15 minutes for prawns. if cooked too long they’ll turn ruberry
- serve with rise
Note: if the tamarind paste turns out to be too sour or you overdo it, the taste can be balanced out with palm sugar, or regular sugar if you don’t have anything else.