Sambal Tumis (Fried Sambal)

Sambal is an Indian word adopted by Malay. In Malay cuisine, sambal is basically a chilli dish. Its 'hotness' depends on the amount of chillies you put. You can tame the chillies by adding sugar, mashed onions and garlic. shrimp paste (belacan) and tamarind juice. A well balanced sambal feels just right on the tongue, not so sweet, not so hot and not so sour.

You normally add a protein component to sambal. This can be in the form of small anchovies, either fried or just washed and tossed; or meat, other fried fish or chicken. The meat has to be pre-boiled and de-bone and de-fat before adding to the sambal. Some people do not put belacan but add chilli sauce instead. If you do so, then you don't have to add sugar as this sauce is sweet enough. My sons love the fried fish sambal while their sister loves it with cuttle fish or squids. In this post, I am not writing the recipe for sambal as I have already listed the main ingredients. You can learn to make good sambal that suits your taste by trial and error. Only with practice will you be able to get the right recipe that suits you.

I do not normally add salt to anchovies sambal as they are already salty. As for the chilies, I would cut the dry chillies in 2 cm strips amd remove the seeds before washing them in a colander thoroughly under running water. Dried chillies may have a lot of preservatives. I would then boil the chillies, the drain and blend them to get what we call 'chilli boh' in our country. I usually use cool boiled water in the blender to grind the chillies. Chilli boh keeps well in the fridge for maybe one week. One has to be careful with chillies as if they are not properly cooked, they can cause upset tummies. When frying them in a little oil for curries or sambals. one has to make sure thay cook slowly and evenly under low heat. You cook the chilli until the oil rises to the top and you have to add a bit of water now and then.

Well that's it. Now I have to get my son, Ikmal to cook the sambal when he's home for the holidays.