Itek Sio

Before my mother became a Christian, as a dutiful daughter-in-law, she would prepare dishes to offer at the ancestral altar. From a child’s eyes, I associated itek sio with ancestral worship. I suspect it was an appropriate dish because it could be left out in the open for a longer time and kept for days without refrigeration because of its preservative ingredients which included tamarind, sugar and spices. We also had itek sio during Chinese New Year. The thick, dark gravy is sweet yet tan