Shrimps and Eggplant Soup Recipe (Terung Lodeh)

Ingredients : Serves 4
1 tablespoon 2 tablespoons 1 2 cloves 2 1 2 2 cups 1 1 cup 1/2 teaspoon 1 teaspoon	Dried shrimps or 125g fresh shrimps Peanut oil Onion, finely chopped Garlic, finely chopped Fresh red chilies, seeded and chopped Ripe tomato, peeled and chopped Daun salam Chicken stock Medium eggplant Coconut milk Brown sugar, optional Salt or to taste
Method : Soak dried shrimps in half cup hot water for 10 minutes. If using fresh shrimps, shell and de-vein, then chop into small pieces. Heat oil in a large saucepan and fry onion, garlic and chilies until onions are soft and start to turn golden. Add tomato and daun salam leaves and fry for 5 minutes, mashing the tomato to a pulp. Add stock, bring to the boil and simmer gently while peeling and dicing the eggplant. Add eggplant to pan and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until just tender. Add coconut milk, sugar and salt and stir while heating through. Taste and add more salt if necessary. Serve with rice and curries.