The directions given below provide for using eggplants as the vegetable. I think that this is the best choice, but other vegetables, for example yard-long beans cut into pieces of 3 cm, may be used successfully.

Ingredients

• 300 grams (cleaned weight) fish, cut into small pieces
• Oil for frying
• 2 cups tamarind water
• Salt to taste
• 2 or 3 eggplants cut into pieces of 5 cm, which must be soaked for a long time

• 5 candlenuts
• 6 slices galingale
• 2 stalks lemon grass, sliced
• 1 dessertspoonful peppercorns
• 1 small piece of fresh turmeric
• 3 small onions, chopped
• 30 grams red chili peppers
• 1 piece shrimp paste, 2 by 1 by ½ cm

Method

Fry the pounded mixture until it starts to brown. Then add a little of the tamarind water and the salt and cook for about 5 minutes more, letting it all come to a gentle boil. Next, add the rest of the tamarind water and continue to simmer until the mixture comes back to the boil, at which time the pieces of eggplant are to be added. When the eggplant is nearly cooked, add the fish. Continue simmering until the fish is cooked and the oil rises to the top.

(When it is ready, this dish should have plenty of liquid left in it – well over 1 cup.)

           It is possible to make this dish with a much larger quantity of chili peppers (60 grams, or even more). It would then be called a spicy fish and vegetable dish, the last word meaning “hot for the tongue”.