Satay Sauce
A satay (or saté) is a thin skewer holding seasoned and grilled meat or fish which is served with a sauce.
In Indonesia, where satays originated, many different sauces are used but elsewhere a spiced peanut sauce like this one is what is most usually served.
The meat may also be cooked in such a sauce rather than grilled on a stick, but it is then "meat in a satay sauce" rather than a satay.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 Onion
- 2-5 Cloves Garlic (pressed - or use garlic paste)
- 1-2 Tsp Ginger paste
- 1-2 Tsp Tamarind pulp (or use a tamarind stock cube to make the stock)
- 0-5 Hot chilis (or Cayenne/chili powder - to taste)
- 2-4 Tsp Vencatachellum's Curry Powder*
- 2-4 Tsp Ground Cumin
- ¾ Pint Stock.
- 3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 4 Tsp Dark Muscovado (Brown) Sugar or Molasses
- 1½ Tbsp Tomato Purée
- 2-3 Tbsp Smooth Peanut Butter
PREPARATION
Sauté together the finely chopped onion, garlic, pulped ginger, tamarind pulp and chopped chillies.
You may cook the meat in the sauce if you do not wish to grill it on sticks - the flavour and texture are, of course, different. If you do this add the meat and sear the
outside at this point.
Add the cumin and curry powder and cook for a few moments longer. Add the stock and the soy sauce (or water and rather more soy sauce), sugar, and tomato purée and simmer for 10-15 minutes (or long enough to cook the meat, if any - this may be several hours with stewing beef and you may need to add extra liquid).
Remove any meat and blend with a stick blender at this point if you don't want pieces of onion and chili in the sauce. Stir in the peanut butter, adjust the seasoning, (replace any meat) and bring back to the boil for a minute or two before serving.
*Vencatachellum's Mild Madras Curry Powder was imported to England by Sharwoods for many years, but in the 70s/80s they made their own formulation
It was pretty close to the original, but they could not call it Vencatachellum so simply called it Sharwood's Mild (or Hot - a fiercer formulation) Madras Curry Powder.
It is still available in small drums, 1 lb and 7 lb boxes. The mix has changed slightly but it is still close to the original Vencat - having some celery seed in it and other ingredients I have been unable to identify.
An approximation (simplified but not bad) uses a mixture of:-
- 2 parts Cumin
- 3 parts Coriander
- 1 part Powdered Ginger
- ½-1 part Turmeric
- ½-1 part Ground Celery Seed
- Cayenne Pepper [to taste]
This is a recipe page on the James Bryant (G4CLF) Web-site.
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