Gary's Seafood Laksa Curry

We have a glorious summer for couple weeks already in Cork. Because of the very hot weather, mostly I only eat some simple food like salad or bread.  Then I watched Masterchef Australia (oh yeah, I am a devoted fan for this program) with this recipe on their Masterclass, it just hit me... all the memories that I have when I was in Indonesia, sunny days... spicy tasty food. So I just give a try this recipe.

The main ingredient is seafood, but you can just use chicken or beef if you like.

Gary Mehigan cook this recipe in a beautiful way to make sure everything is cooked perfectly, but hey... I am a Mom with a baby and toddler, did not have much time to spend in kitchen, so I made a lot of shortcut to cook this food. 

Ingredients

Laksa paste

• 5cm galangal, peeled, chopped
• 1 stalklemongrass, tougher outer stems removed, white part only, chopped
• 6 bird eye chillies, roughly chopped
• 4 shallots, sliced
• 3 clovesgarlic, chopped
• 1 heaped tsp toasted ground coriander seeds
• 5 cm piece fresh turmeric
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

Gravy

• 1/3 cup (80ml)vegetable oil
• 4heads and shells of prawns
• 1 tbsp belachan
• 800mlcoconut cream
• 2 Tbspalm sugar
• 800 mlchicken stock (I use 1 chicken stock pot with 800ml water)
• 1 Lime
• 5 Tbsp Fish sauce
• 1 tbsp dried curry leaves

Seafood

• 500gr mixed seafood or prawn (frozen or fresh, anything that i have on the fridge/freezer)

Garnish

• Fried shallot
• Coriander sprigs
• Bean sprouts
• Sliced fresh chillies
• Lime

Method

1. For the laksa paste, process all the ingredients with hand blender, set a side.
2. For the gravy, heat oil in a wide, deep frying pan over medium heat. Add prawn heads and shells and cook for 1 minute or until they have turned red. Add belachan and break down with the back of a spoon.  
3. Add laksa paste and cook for about 1 minute or until fragrant, then add coconut cream. Continue to cook over low heat for about 5 minutes, then add palm sugar, curry leaves and stock. Bring to the boil, then reduce heat to a simmer (add the chicken now if you use chicken instead) and cook for 30 minutes to allow flavours to infuse. Add the lime juice and fish sauce. Remove shellfish heads and shells, and discard if desired. 
4. Add the mixed seafood, cook until just cooked (about 5 minutes). 
5. To serve, garnish laksa with garlic, shallot, coriander sprigs, bean sprouts, lime and chillies if using. Serve with roti bread, noodles or rice.

Modified from: Masterchef Australia

Copyright © 2013 Ovie Ober_Marbun