Here's a rendition of my family's favourite sambal chilli. It's spicy and full of aromatic flavours. We love to eat it with noodles, nasi lemak (coconut rice), stir fry meat or vegetables, and just almost everything and anything. This condiment is a must-have in Southeast Asian cuisine, no meal is considered complete without the sambal chilli.
Cuisine asian, Chinese, nonya, perakanan, southeast asian
Servings 4persons
Calories 25kcal
Ingredients
50gdry chillies
5fresh red chillies
6shallots
6clovesgarlic
1inchgalangalblue ginger / lengkuas
2stalkslemongrass
30gdry shrimpsYou can substitute or add on with 1-2 tbsp of shrimp paste or belachan.
1 cupcooking oil1/2 cup to add to paste, 1/2 cup for cooking
Salt / sugarOptional, season according to taste
Instructions
Soak dry chillies in hot water for 5 minutes until softened. Remove from water and keep this chilli water aside for later use (optional). Using a knife or scissors, trim off the stem and cut the chillies into halves or one-thirds. Remove seeds if you prefer the sambal chilli to be less spicy.
50 g dry chillies
Wash and cut the fresh red chillies into halves or one-thirds. Remove seeds if you prefer the sambal chilli to be less spicy.
5 fresh red chillies
Peel and cut the garlic. Optional to cut into smaller pieces for easier blending.
6 cloves garlic
Peel and cut the shallots. Optional to cut into smaller pieces for easier blending.
6 shallots
Peel off the skin of galangal and cut into smaller pieces for easier blending (if it's too big).
1 inch galangal
Cut off the bottom and top of lemongrass, only use the white mid to bottom portion. Remove the outer layer of the lemongrass, Slice lemongrass into thin pieces.
2 stalks lemongrass
Wash and drain dry shrimps twice. Then soak for about 15 minutes. Toast the dry shrimps over medium heat until it releases its aroma. Then place it in a blender or food processor and pulse it until the dry shrimps turn into fine grainy or powdery texture.Optional to replace or add on 2 tbsp of shrimp paste or belachan. Belachan can be toasted before adding in.
30 g dry shrimps
Put in the cut dry chillies, fresh chillies, shallots, garlic, galangal, lemongrass. Add 1/2 cup cooking oil OR use the chilli water used to soak the dry chillies. Blend on medium until it turns into a thick almost-smooth paste.
Warm up 1/2 cup cooking oil over low heat in a non-stick pan. Then add the chilli paste and start frying it with the cooking oil, for about 10-15 minutes.
1 cup cooking oil
Constantly stir with the spatula to prevent it from being burnt. The chilli paste will become drier and turn darker in colour. Chilli oil will start to separate.Optional: season with salt and sugar according to your taste preference.
Sambal chilli is ready.
Let it cool before storing it in an air-tight container.
Video
Notes
This recipe yields about 380g.You can add 2 tbsp of belachan or shrimp paste if you can get hold of it and replace or add on to the dry shrimps. Belachan can be toasted to add on the umami flavour. 1/2 cup of cooking oil is added when blending the sambal chilli paste. You can opt to replace this 1/2 cup of cooking oil with the chilli water (the water used to soak and soften the dry chillies). Many sambal chilli recipe will add sugar to make the chilli paste sweeter and salt to enhance the taste. A lot of restaurants and food stalls in Singapore also serve their sambal chilli spicy, savoury, sweet with a sour tint. I opted not to add sugar, as my family is trying to consume lesser sugar in our diet. The dry shrimps is already savoury thus I opted not to add salt in this recipe. However feel free to add on according to your taste and preference.You may want to wear gloves when handling the chilli. I spent some time taking the seeds out of the dry chillies and my hand was 'burning' after making this sambal chilli.If kept in the fridge in airtight container, you can store for up to 2 weeks.