Sambal bajak

This fiery chilli sambal is packed with all the flavours of Indonesia and makes a great accompaniment to seafood or meat. A good, heavy-duty mortar and pestle will make the world of difference when pounding the ingredients into a paste.

• serves

  6

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  20 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 50 g tamarind paste
• 150 ml boiling water
• 4-6 red or green birds-eye chillies
• 4 spring onions (scallions), white part only
• 25 g peeled galangal, chopped
• 25 g peeled ginger, chopped
• 2 makrut lime leaves
• 2 tsp lime juice
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp terasi (shrimp paste)
• 1 tbsp finely grated palm sugar
• 1 tbsp palm oil

Standing time 30 minutes

Instructions

Place the tamarind paste in a heatproof bowl, then pour over the boiling water and stand until cool. When cool, mix together, then strain the mixture throughout a fine strainer, extracting as much water as possible. Discard the seeds and woody fibres and reserve the tamarind liquid.

Place the chillies, spring onion, galangal, ginger, lime leaves and juice, garlic and salt into a mortar and pestle and grind into a coarse paste. Add the terasi and sugar and grind until well combined.

Heat the palm oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Add the chilli paste and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes or until fragrant. Stir in the tamarind liquid and simmer until reduced by half.

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Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.