People are fond of food and different kinds of cuisines. Food habits of various people differ accordingly. There are many kinds of dishes that are present under the Sun. From those comes the specific dish of “Sambal”! It is basically a traditional sauce that is made of peppers and different kinds of herbs. It can be prepared at home and are also prepared in many restaurants in the traditional style. This sauce is very spicy and mixed with chicken or other kinds of dishes to add the flavour of spices in it. It is a hot sauce made with lots and lots of chillies. The chillies are the main ingredient in the preparation.
Ways to prepare Sambal
It is one such sauce which can be cooked and also it can be served raw with any other dish. This is prepared from mixing up of spices and pepper. Included in it are garlic, chilli pepper and also some amount of tomato puree. The tomato puree is used to give colour and a bit of a tangy flavour to this sauce. It is mostly prepared in bulk and then it is refrigerated and stored as it takes a lot of time to prepare and it can’t be prepared all the time. The terasi, also known as Shrimp paste is mixed with this. But, before adding it into sambal, it is first fried or burned so that the smell of the shrimp can be reduced or make it go away. Some households find it convenient to prepare it just before having it with a certain dish.
Steps that are followed in preparation of Sambal:
While preparing it, the following ingredients are used:
- Ginger
- Garlic cloves
- Lemongrass root, that is finely chopped
- 10-12 fresh chillies
- 1 lime that is grated
- white vinegar
- coarse and white sugar in the process of preparing it
The various steps involved in the preparation are:
- At the very beginning, start with chopping the ginger, garlic and lemongrass and they are needed to be placed in a mortar. Then after some time, add some chillies and grind the half lime and keep the rest part for use in the later part.
- In the mortar, properly crush all the ingredients and with it add vinegar to the mixture. The vinegar should be in proportion.
- When grinding the ingredients, add a small amount of salt in it as the salt will help the ingredients to break down faster for the sauce.
- After the mixture is ground properly, do give a taste to the mixture to taste the tanginess and sourness of the mixture. You can mix more amounts depending on what you want.
- Heat a pan in a medium flame and then add the mixture into the pan and stir the mixture with the help of a wooden spoon.
- Do add a small amount of sugar into it as it will help to bring the flavours together. Cook the mixture until it gets a pulpy nature.
- After the mixture is done with, add the remaining part of the lime that you had kept aside. It is ready and it can be served hot with any dish that you like.
Various types of sambal that can be found worldwide
It is not just prepared in one way but there are many different varieties of Sambal. It is prepared in some other way in Indonesia, Malaysia and also in Singapore. The ingredients used in all these countries may differ depending on the availability of the ingredients in their region. The flavours may remain same with a slight difference in the tanginess. It is basically a dish where this sauce in the main ingredient. Without the sauce, the dish would not taste good at all. Chillies used in it may differ.
There are many types of chillies and the specific ones used are:
- Adyuma: Adyuma is a very spicy and hot chilli, yellow in colour and also it is a block shaped pepper. Adyuma is also known as habanero. This can make the sauce very hot and it serves the purpose of this sauce.
- Bird’s eye chilli: These are the long green chillies, very spicy which are used in the preparation of this. These chillies can also be of red colour, they are very long and the whole chilli is used in it.
- Chilli peppers: This is also a long green chilli but it is less spicy as compared to Bird’s eye chilli. They are mild and also help to give flavours.
The various ways in which Sambal can be used are as follow:
The uses of Sambal are many. It can be used with almost all dishes ranging from noodles to meat or any kind of rice item. It acts as a kind of pickle to these dishes. Because of its spicy nature, the dish becomes even more tasty and delicious. Many people are fond of spicy food and it is the perfect item for them. When making any kind of curry, this can be added in smaller quantity when preparing the dish or it can be given separately while having the dish. It is also preferred with eggs, meat, soups and any kind of stews. Sometimes people like any kind of dips or spreads to be hot and spicy and it can be used in that case. This can go with any dish that you can think of.
The basic texture of Sambal
The texture of Sambal can be different. It all depends in the way in which it is made. Some prefer it in the fine paste style while there might be some who likes it in a coarse way. Normally, it is made into a paste but it is not always fine because of the ingredients used. Every ingredient can’t be made into fine powder. Shallots are also included in it because of which the coarseness can stay. A little bit of sweetness with spiciness makes it a perfect combination.
How to buy Sambal?
It can be found in the groceries stores of America and also in the Eastern countries. Most people don’t prefer the readymade sambal and they want to prepare it by themselves. The ingredients are all found in departmental stores or in any supermarkets. Bottles of this are very famous nowadays as they are finer than the hand made one. The bottling is done in a good way so that the contents can remain fresh for a longer period of time. It can be ordered online and they are fresh and of better quality. This chilli oelek paste can be bought from any of the shopping websites.
It is delicious in its own ways. Spiciness in the food gives a unique taste to the food. If you are thinking of how to make a dish spicier, do try it out. It is easy to make and also tastes very nice. Plus, the spicy content of the food can also be kept intact!