RUJAK BRUNEI (SPICED FRUIT SALAD)

Ingredients:

1 small cucumber, sliced thin
1 cup thinly sliced turnip
1 cup cubed firm ripe papaya
1 star fruit (carambola), sliced
1 to 2 cups ripe pineapple - cubed
1 firm green pear, cubed
1 firm granny smith apple, cubed

Sauce Ingredients:

3 tablespoons dry roasted peanuts
2 red chillies, sliced and seeded
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon tamarind paste, dissolved in ½ cup water and strained
1 small green banana, sliced (optional)

Preparation:

1. Arrange the cucumber and fruits in separate heaps on a serving platter.
2. In a food processor chop the peanuts finely, then blend in the chilies, brown sugar, tamarind juice, and banana (if used) to form a paste.
3. Pour the sauce into a bowl and serve together with the fruits .

Cook’s Note:

1. It is traditional to serve the sauce and fruit separately. Each diner may then select the fruit and dip it into the thick sauce.
2. The modern method is to toss the fruit and sauce together and serve the salad at room temperature.
3. Fresh pineapple can be subsitituted with canned pineapple.
4. Green pear can be subsitituted with chinese pear.