Halal Food Recipe: Pineapple Patcheri (Paceri Nanas)

Ingredients:

1/2 riped pineapple (or 1 can of pineapple)
2 shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
5 curry leaves
1 packet of curry powder, mix with 1/2 cup warm water to make a paste
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger
1 tablespoon kerisik (coconut paste, see recipe below or sold at Asian groceries stores in small packets)
1 can of fresh coconut cream
Spice mix: cloves, cardamon, cumin, & cinnamon. A little of each.
2 tablespoon palm sugar (gula melaka), or dark brown sugar
Salt to taste
2 tablespoons cooking oil

Cooking method:

1. Heat cooking oil in a shallow pot, fry the shallots, garlic, curry leaves, grated ginger & mixed spice until fragrant.

2. Pour curry paste in, stir vigorously. Let it cook for about 5 minutes. You may add a little bit of water if it looks too dry, but not too much.

3. Add in pineapples and coconut cream, keep on stirring. Cover for 10 about minutes or until the pineapple softens.

4. When pineapple is soften, add the kerisik (coconut paste), palm sugar and salt to taste. Stir until it dissolves and cover, let it simmer until the curry thickens, about 30 minutes on medium heat.

5. Patcheri is ready when the curry has thicken. Serve warm with steamed rice.

-- How to make Kerisik (Coconut paste) --

1. Toast about 5 tablespoons of grated coconut in a small frying pan, over a small heat for about 5 minutes. Stir it from time to time till the coconut is dark brown in colour.
2. Transfer the coconut to a mortar and with a pestle, ground till the coconut is a smooth paste and oily.


SERVING METHOD

This dish is taken with either plain white rice or with the traditional rice dishes such as Nasi Tomato and Nasi Briyani.

For those who wish to try something different, the pineapple fruit in this recipe is in fact interchangeable and sometimes replaced with brinjals, in which case the dish is known in Malay as Patcheri Terong.