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Peter's perfect sambal recipe

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Rating:

5/ 5 stars 14 Votes
  • Cuisine: Indonesian

Sambal is such a versatile accompaniment and, when you try this recipe, I’m sure you'll never use store-bought sambal again. Stored in the fridge, this will keep for several weeks.

Ingredients

6-8 fresh chillies
1x 2cm piece of ginger
2 cloves of garlic
1 lemongrass root, finely chopped
Zest of 1 lime
50ml white vinegar
Coarse salt
½ cup white sugar

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Preparation

Chop the ginger, garlic and lemongrass into the mortar and add the chillies and half of the lime zest, keeping the other half aside for later.

Crush the ingredients together in the mortar. Gradually add the vinegar.

Add a pinch of salt and continue pounding. The salt will assist to break down the other ingredients.

Taste the mix to ensure you are happy with the combination of sweet, sour, salty and hot flavours. Add additional amounts of the ingredients as required to balance the taste to your liking.

Add the mix to a cold pan. Place the pan over high heat. Be careful not to let the flame come up around the sides of the pan (this will burn the edges).

Mix the sambal with a wooden spoon as it heats.

Add the sugar. This will caramelise the mix and bring the flavours together.

Cook, over medium heat, for 10 minutes or until the mixture is pulpy.

When the mix is almost done, add the remaining lime zest. Cook for a further 90 seconds.

Serve the sambal hot or cold, as an accompaniment to just about any dish.

Note: You’ll need a good mortar and pestle, which are widely available – you can also buy one from Peter's website.

If you enjoyed this Peter's perfect sambal recipe then browse more Indonesian recipes, side dish recipes and our most popular hainanese chicken rice recipe.

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Comments (9)

Previous Page 1 | 2 Next
01 May 2013 11:40 AEST
No t telling
Unknown
Hmmmmmm
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Agree(0 people agree)
Disagree(0 people disagree)
17 Jan 2013 02:07 AEST
rachael
I used 1/4 cup sugar in this recipe and still it turned into hardened toffee when i left it at room temperature. Also it made such a miniscule amount, barely enough for one dish, I presummed it would make more to keep for later. Very disappointed!
Agree(0 people agree)
Disagree(0 people disagree)
09 Dec 2012 05:49 AEST
Joey
Coffs Harbour
Went rock hard in the fridge?
I put mine in the fridge and it went rock hard? Does anyone know why this would happen? Too much sugar?Tastes good though!
Agree(0 people agree)
Disagree(0 people disagree)
23 Jun 2012 08:20 AEST
Stuart
I am going to add less sugar next time, mine ended up being a jam, still nice but to sweet to call a sambal
Agree(1 people agree)
Disagree(0 people disagree)
18 Jun 2012 10:40 AEST
A K Guruge
is this like lunumiris we didn't put lemon grass but i like to try this
Agree(0 people agree)
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15 Jun 2012 04:06 AEST
Robert Trease
Looks great but 'lemon grass root'?-surely 'stalk'?
Agree(3 people agree)
Disagree(0 people disagree)
14 Jun 2012 08:53 AEST
peta
i cant wait to cook this up too
Agree(5 people agree)
Disagree(0 people disagree)
14 Jun 2012 08:00 AEST
nola iles, MELBOURNE
Hello there, I was wondering, how long will the sambal keep in the fridge after first use? Best regards, Nola Iles
Agree(9 people agree)
Disagree(1 people disagree)
   

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