Stingray Curry

This is one of the most popular seafood curries in Malaysia. This is a delicious blend of flavours coming from the various ethnic groups living in Malaysia.

You can substitute the stingray fish (ikan pari) with red snapper.

The curry is made with several spices with a variety of vegetables.

It goes well with a serving of hot steaming rice.

There are many variations of stingray curry, but the basic ingredients are mostly similar.

The thinly sliced kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass and tamarind juice will give the dish a fragrant smell to balance the smell of the stingray.

 

Notes

Tbsp = tablespoon.

Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. Its flesh has a strong fishy smell. It is best cooked with a lot of spices.

 

Method

1. Marinade the pieces of stingray with the ingredients A. Ensure that all the exposed sections are covered with the marinade. Let it marinade for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
2. After that, heat up the pan with 2 to 3 tbsp oil.
3. When the oil is hot, add the rest of ingredients B into the pan.
4. Stir and sauté on a medium heat for 5 minutes or until the shallots and garlic are fragrant.
5. Add ingredients C into the pan and sauté for 5 minutes.
6. Then, add ingredients D, and bring it to the boil in maybe 5 minutes..
7. Finally, add the marinated stingray and the rest of ingredients E, and let it simmer for 5 minutes or until cooked.
8. Switch off the flame and serve hot.

 

Ingredients

 

Ingredients A – Marinade

½ to 1 tbsp salt.

2 tbsp black pepper powder.

1 tbsp cumin powder.

 

Ingredients B

2 to 3 tbsp oil.

6 shallots finely chopped.

8 cloves garlic finely chopped.

10 curry leaves.

4 stalks lemongrass (the white parts to be used only). Cut into 2 cm pieces.

5 cm Galangal (Lengkuas, 南姜: Nán jiāng), cut into 2 cm pieces. This is optional.

 

Ingredients C

4 tomatoes chopped into small pieces.

2 red chillies. Slice it, remove the seeds, and cut into 2 pieces.

1 tbsp fennel seed powder.

½ tbsp fenugreek (halba).

10 Kaffir lime leaves. Slice each leaf into two and discard the midrib (the central vein of a leaf).

 

Ingredients D

7 tbsp Baba’s hot and spicy fish curry powder.

1 tbsp tamarind concentrate.

3 cups water.

½ tbsp salt.

A bunch of laksa leaves (daun kesum). This is optional.

 

Ingredients E

400 g stingray fillet(s). Cut into 4 cm pieces and marinated with ingredients A.

8 okra (ladies’ fingers) cut into 3 cm pieces.

1 eggplant (aubergine or brinjal) cut into 3 cm pieces.

 

Prep Time: 20 minutes.

Cook Time: 25 minutes.

Total Time: 45 minutes.

 

Servings: 4 with rice.

 

Cuisine inspiration: Malaysian Malay, Chinese and Indian.