Recipe for making "Sambal"

“Sambal” is a sauce and usually served as hot and spicy condiments for dishes such as noodles, meat and seafood dishes or coconut rice (nasi lemak), etc.

“Sambal”

200 gm dried chillies (finger length)
1 brown onion
6 shallots
3 cloves garlic
20 gm dried anchovies (remove heads, tiny bones and intestines)
20 gm dried prawns (de shelled and wash)
2 tsp Shrimp paste (“belacan”)
8 candle nuts
3 pieces of tamarind peel (“assam keping”)
2 anchovies seasoning cubes
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp white or brown sugar
Water
Vegetable oil

Note :  Dried ‘chilli padi’ (bird’s eye) will be too spicy.

Procedure

Remove seeds from the dried chillies. Wash with tap water. Prepare a pot of water. Bring it to boil. Add chillies and boil it for a few minutes. Drain it and set it aside.

(A)

Blend the softened chillies to fine paste. Remove it and place it into a bowl. (A)

Blend the brown onion, shallots and garlic with 1 tbsp of oil. Remove it and place it into a bowl. (B)

Place anchovies, dried prawns, shrimp paste and candle nuts into the blender. Add 50ml of water. Blend it until fine. Set it aside. (C)

(B) + (C)

(A + B + C)

Heat up wok or pan. Add three tbsp vegetable oil. With low flame, put ingredient (B), stir fry, follow up with ingredient (C). Stir fry until fragrant, then add ingredient (A) and tamarind peel. Continue to stir fry for another 10 minutes. Add some water so that the mixture is light and easy to stir. Lastly add in the seasoning, soy sauce and sugar. You may adjust the seasoning to suit your taste.

Normally when I cook fish curry, seafood curry or chicken curry, I will add 2 tsp of the “sambal” into the gravy to enhance the flavour of the dish.
You may also use dried anchovies and cook with the “sambal” to eat with coconut rice (nasi lemak).

Store in jar bottles and freeze them for longer use.