Sotong Masak Hitam (Squid in Black Ink)

This is 1 very asian, very traditional 'kampung' (village) dish that we adore.
While I'm not a crustacean fan, I love sotong (squids) and cuttlefish; sambal sotong kering, cumi-cumi are my favourites too.

And although I'm very much an urban-city dweller, because I have no kampung (sob sob!), I grew up with kampung food, thanks to my mom. Now, who can resist 'urap' (raw salad), 'ulam' sambal belachan and the likes. I can't! And sotong hitam is another I-can't-resist-dish.

There are many ways of cooking sotong hitam. This is how I do it:

Ingredients:

500g of squid - to keep the ink pouches.

1 tsp fennel seeds - dry roast and crushed
1 tsp whole black pepper - dry roast and crushed
2 stalks of lemon grass - bruised
1 red onion - sliced
1 tbsp of blended red onion
1 inch ginger - grated
2 garlics - grated
2 pieces of sliced dried tamarind (asam keping)
2 tbsps of tomato sauce
A cup of water, thereabout
Salt and sugar to taste.

1. Heat some oil.
2. Fry the sliced onions till translucent, then add the crushed fennel seeds and black pepper.
3. Add lemon grass. When fragrant, add the tbsp of blended onion, grated ginger and grated
garlic.
4. Fry for a while. Then add 2 tbsps of tomato sauce.
5. Add the squids. Followed by a cup of water, tamarind pieces and also the squids' ink.
6. Cook till gravy thickens. You can add a bit more water to dilute it if you think the gravy's too thick for you. .


It's too yummy when served with hot rice.