While in the kitchen, I looked into the refrigerator and saw a bunch of Petai or its scientific name Parkia Speciosa in the vegetable compartment. Wow! The captivating look of the twisted cluster beans give me an idea of what to bring to Mrs Capt's house. Deep in my heart, I uttered, "What about sambal Petai for Mrs Capt?" Just thinking ...
Anyway, Petai sometimes known as the bitter and stinky bean comes from the Fabacece family plant. It is a long and flat edible beans with bright bulging green seeds the size and shape of oval bulky almonds. It has a strong peculiar pungent smell that lingers in the mouth which most people avoid yet these green pods also contain a host of nutrients essential to persons suffering from diabetes where it helps to regulate the person's glucose level. In sum, one may refer to Petai as "You either love it or hate it!"
So, I swiftly took the Petai pods out and gently peeled off the green outer layer. I washed them, cut into four slices each pod and put them aside. Then I told myself that I'll surprise Mrs Capt with Mushy Sambal Tumis Petai. How's that sound? Exceptionally exotic from someone who rarely cook, right! Woosh, still skeptical of the result or outcome of the recipe but I am really determined to do just that. LOL!
Here's the 'champak-champak' recipe. I blended some dried red chillies. Into the blender, I added half of chopped Bombay onions with just a piece of garlic and very small slice of ginger. Blended all. But I also cut round a whole Bombay onions to be included later which according to my MiL will give the natural sweet taste to sambal gravy! I made sure a little tamarind juice was ready in a bowl. I took out some prawns from the freezer and quickly defrosted them. Also salt, two pieces of nutmeg and a tiny bowl of soya sauce for taste were all within reach near to the stove before I started the amateur cooking. Yeah! I was feeling good and excited looking at the colorful ingredients - red, brownish, whitish and of course the emerald green pods waiting to be poured, stirred and cooked in the shiny Tefal wok!
And here goes my method of cooking the sambal. Perhaps not professional and conventional like other chefs, cooks or experts but the result I can safely said, not too bad :D First, I put oil into the wok and once it was nicely heated I added in the blended ingredients and cooked the sambal till what we call in my language masak sampai naik minyak! I poured into the wok the Bombay onions which was cut round that naturally gave sweet taste to the sambal once its water was drained. It is pertinent that the sambal is properly cooked or else one can easily get stomach ache because of uncooked chillies. Then I added in the tamarind juice and a few minutes later followed by the already shell-off fresh prawns into the sambal and stirred well. Pretty soon, I added into the gravy the already cut Petai beans and followed with the salt, nutmeg and few drops of soya sauce for taste! I did not put the famous Malay ingredient belachan or shrimp paste because I am allergic to it :( Instead, I used fresh prawns.
But Wallah ... While stirring the gravy in the wok, its aroma and delicious smell of the sambal dish occupied the whole kitchen and I knew the dish was ready to be transported to Mrs Capt's crib as part of the savory cuisines for lunch :)
The SambalTumisPetai for lunch :D I just couldn't believe my eyes that I did it! It looks pretty good and I pray it will taste good, too. Now, I'm patiently waiting for 'constructive' comments from Mrs Capt and also Mr Right -(@^@)-!
The Petai pods or Parkia Speciosa. For Ladies who are suffering from Pre-Menstrual Syndrome or PMS, it is believed the Vitamin B6 in the Petai could help regulate blood glucose levels which affect the moods. (This Picture is copy right of Wikipedia from Google and PMS notes extracted from Wonder Beans by Aida Ahmad - SundayMetro@TheStar.Com.My)
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