Masak - masak Melayu ~ Gulai masak lemak cili padi ikan pekasam (sepat)

 I'm not a cook by nature, I cook only out of necessity i.e. when I feel like eating something that cannot be bought at the shop or something that I'm fussy of how it taste. This dish is my personal favourite because it's very homey dish that I learned by watching my mom made it and by mouth. And I love how pineapple soaks up the flavor of the gravy hence my recipe version is always overabundant with pineapple. Another thing about masak lemak cili padi is that its a very versatile base gravy, you can cook fish / chicken / egg with it.

 1. Main ingredient of course is the ikan pekasam, I used sepat. Can be found at wet market. Clean the rice coating and soak in water to loosen left over rice.

 Then the gravy ingredients - get your food processor ready to grind these stuffs to pulp.
2. Lengkuas @ galangal,about 1 cm thick
3. garlic @ bawang putih, 3 cloves
4. Shallot @ bawang merah, 5 cloves
5. serai @ lemon grass, 2 stalks
6. Turmeric @ kunyit, 3 cm (sometime I cheated and used turmeric powder @ serbuk kunyit)
7. ginger @ halia, 2 cm
8. red chilli, 3 of them is wnough for me. If you want a spicier taste, opt for cili padi.

 9. Not forgetting this, another cheat, coconut milk @ santan, 200 ml (or more if you like it creamy)

 10. pineapple, well, as much as you want. I used a 1 kg pineapple, the whole of it.

 11. Tamarind slice @ asam keping, 5-6 depending on how sour you want it to be.
12. 2 cups of water
13. salt and sugar for taste
14. cooking oil, 2 Tbs

Preparation:
1. Grind ingredients 2-8. Heat the oil while you are at it.
2. Stir in the grind ingredients in the hot oil
3. Once the stuffs is cooked and fragrant (naik minyak), add in coconut milk and water, bring to a boil
4. Then add in the tamarind and pineapple
5. Add in the fish, simmer for 1-2 minutes then only you add in the salt and sugar to taste.

Don't leave the fish to simmer too long as they tend to get too soft and end up breaking to pieces later.