Sambal Tumis, Fried Sambal

Sambal tumis means fried sambal in Malay.  Please do not judge this sauce by the very simple ingredients that go into it. It is not unfair to call this the 'mother sauce' of Malay cooking (Malay is the largest ethnic group in Malaysia), it is in fact the backbone of many Malay classics such as sambal ikan bilis for nasi lemak, sambal telur, sambal goreng, mee goreng and the list goes on. This will keep for months in sterillised jars, so do make a large batch as it is truly addictive! Make some today as you will need this for my next post :)

P.S This is a family recipe of my nanny Fatimah, given to me together with many other Malay classics which I'll be sharing with everyone soon. To my new blogger friend and birthday girl Sonia from Nasi lemak lover this one is for you.

makes 2 cups

you'll need;

300 g of shallots
1 red onion 

10 garlic cloves

20 bird chilies, remove seeds for a milder version

25 dried chilies, soaked til soften, seeds removed for a milder version

1 x 5 cm piece of belacan (shrimp paste), toasted 

6 tbs of sugar

salt to taste

3 pcs of tamarind peels

1 cup of cooking oil

Blend wet spices and belacan til smooth.

Fry the paste with oil for 5 minutes, add the tamarind peels, sugar and salt and continue to fry on medium heat for a further 15 to 20 minutes.