I smell something fishy...

Not many people know that I am half-Malaysian and half-Indian. My parents brought us up in a way that we would get the best of both worlds. And they did their job well! Food was a very important part of our daily life. With my mom being the most amazing cook, there was never any chance of us not getting delicious treats each day. Even though I love and almost eat Indian food everyday, my heart stills longs for my mom to come into my kitchen and cook me a scrumptious Malay meal, since I lack much knowledge in that area. This is my favourite Malay fish curry recipe that I learnt from my mom. She would always make this for me whenever I would go home, kinda like my welcome home lunch/dinner. I never knew how easy it was till I decided to make it on my own!

Malay-style Hot and Sour (Asam-Pedas) Fish Curry

Ingredients: 6 pieces of fish (I love Promfret the best, but Mackeral tastes good this way too. Feel free to use any of your favourite fish) 1 medium-sized onion 2 medium-sized tomatoes 2-3 pieces of dried tamarind (depending on how sour you like it) 1 teaspoon red chili powder 1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder 1 teaspoon mustard seeds 5-6 dried curry leaves 2 tablespoons light cooking oil salt to taste Method: Heat oil in a pan and add mustard seeds and curry leaves when oil is hot.

Add onions and fry till slightly brown.

Add finely chopped tomatoes and cook till they soften.

Add salt, turmeric and chili powder and fry till spices blend in.

Add 2 cups of water and bring to a slight boil. Add fish pieces and cover pan till fish cooks.

Put in the dried tamarind pieces and cover cook for another 10-15 minutes. Add more water depending on the consistency you want. Remove from flame and serve with boiled rice and fresh cucumber slices.