Pineapple Curry

Curry Anyone? Go to any corner in Malaysia and curry will be in one of the menus. Almost everybody loves curry here. I said almost...Some cannot stand the strong aroma of the spices but others cannot live without it. Go to the street stalls, fine restaurants, cafe or big hotels, curry will be the all time favourite. The more the merrier. The spicier the better. We have curry originated from Southern India, where it's thicker and darker. You can get this at any Mamak stalls or restaurants around the country. You can get a generous portion of chicken, fish, prawn or squid curries at a competitive price. Fish head curry will be served in a big bowl and usually the price will double or triple the normal curry.

For the Malay community, its curry is milder, still carry the pungent spicy aroma of the mixed spices but airier, lighter and less thick. Yogurt or cream is substituted with coconut milk to get a smooth texture. Eventhough the spicies are not as strong as the Indian curry, the taste is still unbelievable. I love curry and so do the rest of the family. Chicken curry with potatoes, vegetable curry with meat, fish curry, egg curry, eggplant curry...all are fingers licking good!

I have a special recipe that has been my favourite. Pineapple Curry. It is cooked with a special ingredient, kerisik or roasted coconut that has been pounded. It's mild and is very nice eaten with fried chicken and white rice. Top up with a good spoonful of sambal belacan and ice lime tea, you can forget that you are on earth. I will share the recipe with you. Enjoy!


Ingredients

Half pineapple, cut rounded abt 1 cm thick
1 big onion, chopped
2 garlic, chopped
2 inch ginger, chopped
1 star anise
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
100 gm dried prawns, pounded (can be substituted with dried anchovies or ikan bilis)
1 cup coconut milk
4 tbsp chicken curry paste (mixed with water until it forms a thick batter)
2 tbsp kerisik
2 tsbp sugar
salt to taste

Methods

1. Heat pot, add oil. When the oil is heating, put chopped onion, garlic, ginger,star anise, cinnamon stick and cloves. Stir until golden brown.
2. Add chicken curry paste. Stir until the oil begins to appear and the curry paste becomes separated from the oil (abt 5 minutes)
3. Add dried prawns and sugar. Stir about 30 seconds.
4. Add kerisik. Stir about 1 minute.
5. Add pineapple and coconut milk. Add salt to taste.
6. Cook until the pineapple is tender and the curry becomes thicker.
7. Serve hot.


How to make kerisik?

Fry grated coconut in a pan (with NO oil) until they become brown. Transfer the browned coconut into a pounder and pound until it forms a thick paste. By this stage the coconut will produce oil. When this happens, your kerisik is ready to be cooked. You can use kerisik for rendang, meat curry or chicken for extra flavour. Try!