Sambal Base

Recipe: Sambal Base基本参峇酱

Yield: 3 cups / 780g

This sambal base is an unseasoned sambal tumis which can be used for making assorted finished sambal, stir-fry, curry and etc. I call it "base" because it is versatile. Making 3 cups of this sambal base at a time, it could have save me a lot of time for months.

Ingredients

250ml to 360ml peanut oil or vegetable oil Spice Paste Ingredients 40g / 2½ cup de-seeded dried chilies 200g / 1¼ cup shallots (peeled and quartered) 50g / ¼ cup red onion 50g / ¼ cup garlic cloves (peeled & halved) 3½ to 4 TBSP toasted belacan powder

Measurements: tsp. = teaspoon | TBSP = tablespoon

Preparation
1. Remove seeds from dried chilies.	2. Put chilies in a pot of water and bring to a boil over medium high heat. Reduce heat to low and simmer for another 15 minutes with lid on. Turn off the heat. Leave chilies to simmer for another 20 to 30 minutes.	3. Put chilies in a colander. Rinse chilies under running tap water. Drain and set aside.
4. Peel garlic cloves and halve in lengthwise. Remove any sprouts.	5. Peel shallots and quarter in lengthwise. Remove any sprouts.	6. Prepare 50g of red onion.
7. Put all the spice paste ingredients into a food processor. Blend or puree into a smooth paste.	8. Spice paste is ready.	9. Heat up oil in a skillet. Saute the spice paste over low heat until oil separates, about 30 minutes.
10. Leave sambal to cool completely. Put them in a clean and dry glass jar, then store in refrigerator. Use sambal base as desired.

Notes

I prefer to add tamarind paste and season with salt and sugar when I cook my dish because some dish like curry doesn't need tamarind. However, you can add tamarind paste to this sambal base and season it with salt and sugar after oil separated from sambal; saute for about 8 more minutes over medium heat. When making sambal tumis, I usually add 2 to 3 TBSP tamarind paste to each cup of my sambal base.