Hot Prawn Sambal

LOve it! If it wasn't for the cholesterol I would eat this everyday. A thick, rich, red and hot sauce with a mound of blushing prawns hiding inside. Comfort food.

500 gm large prawns, skin and head intact, cleaned with their little leggies and top of the heads trimmed. Remove 'vein'. Rinse and pat dry with a kitchen paper and sprinkle a little salt on it.

1/3 cup cooking oil

Grind the following 4 ingredients :

3 large onions
6 -7 fresh red chillies, seeded
8-9 dried red chillies, soaked in hot water for 20 minutes, cut up and rinse under running water in a sieve to remove seeds.
3 cloves garlic

salt to taste
1 tsp sugar
1/4 cup very thick santan, in a packet will do
1 tsp tamarind pulp mixed with 1/3 cup water and juice extracted
1 lemon grass, crushed

1/2 cup cooking oil

Serves 4-6

Heat 1/3 cup cooking oil in a pan and quick fry the prawns in 3 portions until just pink and half cooked. Drain and keep aside. Discard oil.

Heat 1/2 cup cooking oil in a pot or wok. Saute ground ingredients until the paste turns a dark red and oil rises to the top. Throw in the crushed lemon grass. It will take a good about 7-8 or 10 minutes on medium heat. Add the thick coconut milk and tamarind juice as well as salt and sugar. Let it simmer further for another 8 to 10 minutes or maybe a little more until the sambal is nice and thick, then add the prawns and let it cook another 4-5 minutes. Adjust salt to taste.

I'm just guessing the times as I did not time the cooking just now but as always cooking seems to take forever. But the prawns don't take long to cook at all. It is the sambal that one must ensure is cooked well until it is of a lovely thick consistency that it just dollops on your plate when you scoop it. YUM!