Sambal Udang (Spicy Malaysian Shrimp)

Sambal Udang (Spicy Malaysian Shrimp)

This Shrimp curry is very famous in Malaysia. This is one of the most common food available in road-side stalls to the posh restaurants. This spicy curry is really fast to prepare and equally mouth watering. But when I adopted it for my Indian Kitchen, I made a few minor changes in the ingredients, as I have replaced Candlenuts with Almonds and Malay Chili Paste with a regular chili paste prepared any Indian home. Believe me you would not find any changes to the original taste. I sometimes use the bottled shrimp paste, but you can use anchovies if you wish, or use any fish paste or even fish sauce instead.

Preparation time   : 20 minutes

Cooking time        : 25 minutes
Difficulty               : Very Easy
Serves                  : 4

Ingredients :

• 400 - 500 grams of Medium sized Shrimps, cleaned, Shelled and veined
• 4 tablespoon of Peanut or Vegetable Oil
• 1 large Onion, Sliced
• 2 ripe Tomatoes, quatered
• 1 tablespoon Tamarind paste
• 1 cup Water
• Salt to taste
• 2 teaspoon Palm sugar or Dark Brown Sugar.

• 2 tsp belacan (dried shrimp paste)
•  8 shallots
• 4 Cloves of Garlic
• 5 Teaspoon Chili paste
• 4 Candlenuts (Substitute Almonds)

           (Items in red are to be ground or blended together)

          Method :

1) In a small bowl, mix tamarind paste and water using your fingers, discard seeds, set aside.2) Using a mortar & pestle or blender, grind shallots, garlic,
Belacan, almonds and chili paste together to form a paste.

3) Heat wok on high, add oil, stir-fry ground paste till quite toasted and oil starts to separate,  this will take around about 5 minutes
4) Add onions, tomatoes, tamarind, sugar, salt to taste

5) Cover, reduce heat to medium, cook till tomatoes are well stewed, then mash them with a spatula and sauce will become thick.

6) Now add prawns, stir-fry until just opaque - do not overcook!

7) Dish onto serving plate, allow to sit 10 minutes or so, for prawns to absorb flavors.

8) Serve hot with Plain rice or Nasi Lemak (Malaysian Coconut Rice)