Fresh Petai Sambal
Serves 6-8.
Ingredients
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 sprig fresh curry leaves
2 tablespoons chopped garlic
1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
12 sliced hot chillies
1 teaspoon dried shrimp paste (blacan)
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1 tablespoon mild chilli paste
3 tablespoons salted yellow beans
4 tablespoons dark roasted coconut,
finely ground
500 g/1 lb fresh petai seeds or canned petai, drained
1 tablespoon palm sugar or brown sugar
1 torch ginger bud, very finely sliced
or 4 tablespoons chopped Vietnamese mint
Directions
Heat oil and toss in curry leaves. After 30 seconds add chopped garlic and ginger and sliced chillies and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add blacan and fry, crushing it against the wok with back of frying spoon.
Add grated ginger and chilli paste, salted yellow beans and roasted coconut. Add the petai and 1/2 cup water, stir into the spice mixture, cover and simmer for about 10 minutes or until petai are tender. Stir in sugar. Serve sprinkled with sliced ginger bud.
Recipe excerpted from Encyclopedia of Asian Food by Charmaine Solomon (Periplus Editions, 1998)