Spaghetti with Asian seafood gravy

The season of Lent where this Catholic family is not eating meat seems to have motivated me to be more adventurous and experimental with my cooking. This is yummy, my Anglicised version of a traditional Asian dish for my very English daughter.

To make the gravy:

Boil the following:

1. Fish stock
2. Prawns with shell (about 1/2 kg)
3. 200g sweet potato
4. 200g pumpkin
5. 400g ripe tomatoes
6. 2 chilli
7. 1 onion
8. 3 stalks lemongrass
9. Tamarind (I used 1/3 of a small jar)
10. 1/4 cup tomato ketchup
11. 3 tablespoons brown sugar
12. 3 teaspoons salt

Boil until soft the vegetables are soft. Blend until smooth and adjust to taste (salt, tomato ketchup, more chilli, more tamarind, etc). The gravy must be thick enough to coat the spaghetti richly. If not, bring to boil until it thickens. But this is the thickness you should aim for:

Remove the prawns to serve with the spaghetti later. In the meantime:

1. Hardboil eggs. Peel and quarter.
2. Cook spaghetti according to instructions.
3. Ladle the gravy over the cooked spaghetti.
4. Assemble the dish by garnishing it with the cooked prawns, sliced tomatoes, sliced red chilli, salad greens, blanched bean sprouts….and a big generous twist of lime.