Prawn Sambal with Petai

Sambal is a delicacy on its own. Most Malaysians, especially the Malays, must live with their sambals. We have ikan bilis, prawns, squids, fish even dried fish sambals or simply boiled egg sambals to name a few. All these sambals can be eaten with plain rice or nasi lemak, which is a Malaysian favourite breakfast. Some people choose to eat them with bread or buns. In short, sambal can be eaten in various ways and will be even better if they are mixed with petai which is suitable for prawns, ikan bilis and fish.

Petai beans look like broad beans but in a much larger scale. Like mature broad beans, they may have to be peeled before cooking and the seeds must be taken out before cooking. Petai has earned its nickname 'stink bean' because its strong smell is very pervasive. It lingers in the mouth and body. It contains amino acids that can give a strong smell in the urine but that will subside after a day or two. Stinky or not, Malaysians love this one!

Ingredients
500gm medium size prawns, cleaned
2-3 petai beans ( take out the seeds and clean thoroughly)

salt, to taste
1 cup tamarind juice (throw away the seeds if any)
5 table spoon oil

Blended Items
250gm dried chillies
5 shallots
1 big onion
3 cloves garlic
1 inch belacan or prawn paste
2 table spoon sugar

Methods
1. Put oil in a pan. When the pan is hot, put in the blended items and cook for about five minutes or until aromatic. You can add a little bit of water if it becomes dry.
2. When the blended items have slightly thicken, put in the tamarind juice and stir briefly.
3. Add in prawns and cook until they are tender.
4. Add the petai seeds and salt, to taste.
5. Stir well for about one minute and the prawns are ready to be served.


Serves 2-4 people