Kare Ikan (Fish Curry) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs cleaned white fish fillets
6 shallots or 1 large onion
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon dried lemon grass or 1 piece fresh lemongrass
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 salam leaf or 1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/2 cup tamarind juice
1 cup coconut milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
salt
1 slice cucumber
mint

Preparation

Whatever fish is used, it can be cut into small cubes or slices before frying.
Heat a little oil in a heavy frying-pan, and carefully brown the fish in it.
Meanwhile, in another frying-pan, fry the chopped shallots (or onion) and garlic until tender.
Stir in the chilli, ginger, turmeric, coriander, lemon grass, salam, salt and tamarind water.
Let this mixture simmer for 10 minutes, then put in the fish.
Cover, and simmer for another 10 minutes.
Add the santen and cook for a further 5 minutes.
Serve hot, garnished with very thin slices of cucumber and chopped mint.
(Alternatively, put the cucumber and mint into the kare itself for the last 2 minutes of cooking.) Incidentally, the same care can be made with prawns.
There is no need to fry the prawns separately; but fry them in the mixture of onion, etcetera for a few minutes before you put in the tamarind water.