W/W - Keeping the meat off your plate

Growing up in a strict Catholic family, we always went meatless on Fridays not only during the 40 days of Lent but all year round. But my mom would take things a little further. In addition to a meatless meal, she would keep the meals humble to remind us to be appreciative of what we have and to give a thought to those less fortunate. I remember having either fried rice with salted fish or rice porridge with peanuts almost every Friday and those meals drove us nuts!

In her defence, coming up with different takes on a meatless meal can be quite challenging and in those days, Mom had no food websites to devour recipes to broaden her menu-planning.

My obnoxious 13 year-old son says stomaching the stuff I cook daily is as penitential as any other day of the week! Hey, my cooking isn't that bad if I made a concerted effort in it! And there are a few dishes I could rock!

In keeping up with this tradition to skip the meat, I have been googling recipes to spice up our Lenten meals.

I made this last Friday

Udang Kelio

* Udang means prawn in Malay

Turned out, it wasn't much of a sacrifice at all. I loved, loved, loved it! It was so good, it missed the whole penance thing!

Warning! Not recommended for those observing Lent!

UDANG KELIO
BY AMY BEH

INGREDIENTS
650-700g large prawns
250ml thick coconut milk
3 kaffir lime leaves
4-5 tbsp oil

SPICES
4 cloves garlic
100g shallots
50g ginger
2 thick slices galangal
1 thumb-sized piece fresh turmeric
2 stalks lemongrass
250g red chillies

SEASONINGS
Salt and pepper to taste

METHOD
Combine all spice ingredients in an electric food processor. Process to a fine paste.

Heat oil in a nonstick saucepan, add blended spice paste and sauté until fragrant.

Pour in coconut milk and add kaffir lime leaves. Bring to a low simmering boil until the gravy is almost thick.

Add prawns. Stir gently until the prawns are cooked through. Adjust with salt and pepper to taste.