How to make Sambal | Suitable for Vegetarians
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- čas přidán 14. 07. 2018
- Sambal is a condiment that is typically eaten with rice in Malaysia. Whenever I serve Nasi Lemak (coconut rice), I traditionally pair it with ikan bilis (anchovy) sambal. However, because I have vegetarian friends who can't take anchovies or shrimp paste, this is a delicious alternative. This version is a sweetish spicy sambal! Not only can you use this as a condiment, but I have used this as the rempah (spice paste) to stir fry vegetables, potatoes etc.
Sambal Recipe
Ingredients
Part A (spice mix)
50g dried chilli (to soak)
4 golden shallots*
1 - 2 tbsp lemongrass (or 2 stalks lemongrass, white part)
1 tbsp garlic
Part B
2 onions (personal preference, you can also reduce this to 1 onion)
2 tbsp tamarind paste
1/2 cup water
3-4 tbsp sugar
1-2 tsp salt
Step 1
Preparation for dried chilli
1. 50 grams dried chilli
2. Soak in hot water for 1/2 hour (or until soft)
3. Cut off stems and deseed (please wear gloves! I had my hands burning for days when I do not wear them)
4. Blend in food processor with a bit of water (this derives about 150g blended dried chilli paste)
Step 2
1. Add shallots, lemongrass and garlic into the blended dried chilli
2. Blend into a paste
3. Remove from food processor
Step 3
1. Chop 1 or 2 onions into half moons (personal preference if you like the onion texture)
2. Mix 2 tbsp tamarind paste with 1/2 cup water
3. Set aside
Method
1. Add 4 tbsp of vegetable oil over a hot wok
2. Saute spice mix until fragrant
3. Add chopped onions and mix in
4. After onions have softened, add tamarind paste mixture and leave to boil
5. If too dry, add a bit more water
6. After boiling (approx 20 mins), add 3 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp salt
7. Continue to boil
8. If still too sour, add sugar (another 1 tbsp) and salt (approx. 2 tsp) to taste
*Note - you will need to adjust the seasoning by tasting the dish. This sambal is sweetish.
9. Let it cool (the sambal will change colour)
10. Serve with nasi lemak rice or use as a base to fry vegetables, rice, etc.
*Golden shallots look like a cross between garlic and onions. The bulbs are smaller and have a milder flavour compared to onions. They are also more aromatic in flavour when cooked. Depending on the weather, they are 3-4 times the price compared to their onion cousin in Australia! If you are in Malaysia, I recommend using approximately 10-12 small Thai rose shallots, available in all supermarkets.
Other tips:
Sambal recipes usually require dried chilli to be rehydrated. However, if you don't have access to dried chilli or don't want to be bothered with the whole process of preparing the dried chilli, you can always replace it with 150g of blended fresh chilli mixed with 2 tsps of chilli powder and sweet paprika powder for the deep red colour. Note that fresh chilli is more tart and also less spicy.
I did an experiment recently on how much spice paste dried chilli would yield, and it was 3x. Therefore, for this recipe, 50g of dried chilli yielded about 150g of blended chilli.
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![[43] Vegetarian Sambal | Versatile Spicy Chilli Condiment | Malaysian Style | Base Recipe](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/plsE8zyK19U/mqdefault.jpg)
Tried this today and loved it! But too spicy for me, I need to tweak the recipe. The lemongrass added freshness coupled with tangy tamarind ... really brings out the ZING factor! Added the sambal to my nasi lemak .... awesome!
Thanks 💖 Yea, the lemongrass makes a difference 😅 Next time, you can use the equivalent in fresh Chillis to make it less spicy (remove seeds). I tried this before too. The colour will look slightly different.
Thank you for sharing a vegan recipe. Miss my nasi lemak.
J Ramanathan yes! Nasi lemak with sambal is so comforting! I’ve even used this to stir fry diced potatoes to go with the Nasi lemak for my vegetarian friends and they Iove it! 💕
Will try this .
Hi Carol Thank you very much for a delicious, easy step by step recipe for vegan nasi lemak. Looking forward to more recipes. Vety well presented recipe.Thank you.
Warmest Regards
Jay
Awww thanks so much 💗 glad you liked it!
Hi Carol,thanks for sharing very very nice! I just wonder if you would add any balachan at all ?
Hi Leo, I don't add belacan because this is a sambal that vegetarians can take. The sambal belacan is a different recipe :)
Hi Carol. 2022. Aug 26th. Today i tried cooking your vegetarian sambal. Believe me, it was soooo delicious. My family loved. Thank you so much. Following your recipe from now on.
awww thanks so much Vani :) Glad you enjoyed it. I haven't made videos in a long time! hehe
Best serve with coconut rice 😊 #resepiviralsambalnasilemak
Did you try making? :)
Hi Carol, so how long can you keep this before spoiling? Can we use galangal? Thanks!!!
Upula Herath for me, I would freeze it in portions as it has zero preservatives. I haven’t tested how long it will last in the fridge before it starts growing mould 😂 maybe one month? Put a layer of oil on top though.. this acts like a preservative
No I would not use galangal for this sambal recipe. however, you can add deep fried anchovies to make this a non-vegan sambal.
There are many spice pastes that we use that galangal is a core ingredient (eg., laksa paste).
Wtf. Wait. Shallots and garlic looks like an onion??? I didn’t even know that. I’m so mind blown!!! 🤯 0:36
Cherry Belle Casino haha some shallots here are giant! 😂 its longer than the 🧅 if you have access to the tiny rose shallots, please use that! It’s even more fragrant!
Or if you have no shallots at all, you can replace with red onion.
The garlic 🧄 is already minced, so I don’t have to mince garlic every time I want to use it 🤭
@@Neuropschology.525 yes, too much sugar is very dangerous and bad for everyone! That's why we have to make sure we are not consuming so much sugar in our diets. There was one time I tried to go on 'no sugar' and found it so difficult to find products in the supermarket without any sugar content. The only way I could do this was to make my own food/marinate and purposely not put sugar in it.
I read this article a few weeks ago that a girl in China had to go to hospital because she had 99g of sugar in her bubble tea, which she was consuming almost everyday..Can you imagine! Anyway, I don't think that being vegan is necessarily healthy. I think people are vegan for a variety of reasons :)
Hi Carol 🙂can we use the fresh chillies 🌶 instead .. thanks 🙏 for sharing 👍
ReadyGetSetGo Hesed yes yes! Can replace, I tried this last week with fresh chilli and it was also good. But if you have chilli powder, you can add this to the blended fresh chilli for colour. For this recipe, use 150g fresh chilli ya 😁
Carol Tan’s Kitchen thanks 🙏 for the advice well appreciated 👌Hope to see more of your videos soon.. please do visit my place too 🤩🙏
ReadyGetSetGo Hesed I’ll check it out 😅 can’t seem to see when I click on your name. I’ll try on the computer 💻
I’ve been making videos again! let me know if you try any recipes 🙌🏻
Carol Tan’s Kitchen ok 👌 thanks a Lot Carol 🙏👍happy cooking , enjoy sharing your recipes 🤩God bless
I am African we make it with only chillie garlic And tamarind And vinegar somethimes if it gets too hot too handle we had 1 cherry tomato to it and a bit of salt no sugar needed or onions just chillies tamarind vinegar salt and garlic
Labourer Plop nice!! What do you eat it with? Rice?
Carol Tan’s Kitchen everything
Carol Tan’s Kitchen so good it doesn’t last me long I always need to make a new one try it
@@labourerplop5034 Cool, try experimenting sambal recipes from different countries :)
Hi can I use ready make chilli paste from gocery stall instead
Yes, definitely can 😃 just have a look at the content of the ready made chilli paste. You will probably need to adjust the salt 🧂 you add at the end, as the ready made pastes already contain salt.
T.hank you for your prompt reply i will try your recipe
ntg.sba ntg.sba so you can replace with about 150g ready made paste ya! ❤️
The small bowl is Corelle hahahaha
HAHA the best light weight crockery! The big bowls too at 3:33 :) It's the noodle bowl size, very handy!!
Hello :) What is the shelf life of this?
Real Life with Maliha hey, I usually freeze my sambal in portions and take down when needed. So, that keeps for months! Thats worked really well for me 😅
In the fridge, the sambal will keep about up to 4 weeks, with the layer of oil on top to keep it from spoiling.
U should deseed the chillies first, then soak in water. Its easier that way
Naz WMD yes, makes our lives so much simpler right 🤭 actually, I recently found already cut dried Chillis in the Asian grocery (without stems), so it’s even easier!
Is there any substitute for tamarind paste?
You could probably take raisins or any relatively neutral dried fruit and soak in a little water and make it into a paste of similar consistency (manually or with a food processor). It will not taste the same, but it will serve the same purpose.
Nice & Thanks :)
krishnan srinivasan did you try making it? 😅
@@CarolTansKitchen Yes Mam , I added some grounded coconut to it , as a little tweak to my taste :) Loved it along with a dosa :) Thanks :)
@@krishnansrinivasan830 That's awesome, maybe I should do that too! How much did you add?
@@CarolTansKitchen Mix 20% (quantity compared to your final sambal in the wok) of finely grounded coconut when your other mixture is about 50% cooked :)
Ok will try it! I’ve never put in coconut in my life 😅
Can I use fresh chili or chili flakes?
Hi Reymar, using my other account to reply. Yes you can use fresh Chillis - blend about 150g of fresh chilli. It will be not as spicy, but still very good.
Can’t use chilli flakes, but if you want to add a few tablespoons of chilli flakes with the fresh chilli, that’s fine. The chilli flakes will give it the extra spice.
Nice recipe! Is it originally made this way?
I think that some people like to
Blend all the 🧅 onions 😅 and also the prep for the dried chilli - easier to remove seeds before soaking!
@@CarolTansKitchen thanks Carol is it ok to use fresh Thai chilli?
@@philipaugustine201 don’t use the tiny chilli, you might burn 🔥 😂 fresh red Chillis are fine, but note the weight difference…. I think I wrote it in the recipe (how many grams to use if it’s fresh)
Thanks
@@philipaugustine201 did you try using fresh chilli? You would have needed at least 150-200g of fresh chilli
No vinegar or olive oil at the end ?
Bennie Leip no, I’ve never put vinegar or olive oil in any sambal recipe before. You can add anchovies in the end if you want. I have a modified recipe of the anchovy sambal if you like? 😄
Carol Tan’s Kitchen alright,I thought that that had to be done so it wouldn't go bad that fast or something.
But one question do you have to use dried peppers or can you use fresh ones ? (I'm growing bird eye peppers so wanted to make this 😁👍🏻)
Bennie Leip if you want to keep this for a long time, just freeze it. Defrost when you want to use it 😃 I’ve actually used fresh chilli as an experiment before. Also tastes fine, just slightly more tangy.
Carol Tan’s Kitchen okey thanks for awnsering 👍🏻 i will then dry them and make it like this
@@bennieleip579 Hey you don't have to dry them.. just try it fresh! It's also ok :)
Is easier if you remove the seeds from dry chillies b4 soaking them in water.
😂 yea, now I only buy the readily cut dried chilli so it’s easier to remove seeds when dry 🌶
Do you add pandan leaf also for flavouring the Sambal?
Hi! No, the pandan taste will not come through for this. You mainly use pandan for your coconut rice or desserts!
@@DrCowTan So true. I copied some other recipe for Sambal today and used pandan for making it. It totally killed the taste and my hard work 😭
All sambals have these core main ingredients, other things to enhance are shrimp paste or anchovies… 😅
@@DrCowTan But I am a vegetarian. I don't eat fish. Hence I would like to have my Sambal without either lemon grass or pandan. Instead I would like to garnish it with fresh coriander leaves instead. I am from India, so I prefer Indian herbs and spices over lemon grass to flavour Sambal 🙂
Oh! Ok, this recipe works, my vegetarian friends love it..😅
Hi what type of sambal that has tomatoes and lime?
Hello! Search this on google “INDONESIAN SAMBAL TOMAT”. It’s an Indonesian sambal recipe 💕
You can also search “sambal balado recipe”
oh wow! thank you so much! :)
Can you leave the stems on and the seeds
Labourer Plop Yes seeds are ok if you don’t want to remove it completely. Seeds just makes it more spicy! stems have to be removed though 🌶
Carol Tan’s Kitchen ok I use small chillies very hot
@@labourerplop5034 WOW! I am impressed! I can't take the spice from the small chillis :)
Onions should be fried first then only add the chilli paste.
How much it would cost there..??
Cost of raw ingredients? 😅 much more expensive than in Asia as everything is imported, apart from the shallots/onions.
@@CarolTansKitchen mam...if I were not wrong then you r from Singapore..??
@@anoproy6477 I am actually in Melbourne, Australia :) I am from Malaysia, and these ingredients are very cheap there! haha
𝒞𝒶𝓃 𝒾 𝓊𝓈ℯ 𝒻𝓇ℯ𝓈𝒽 𝒸𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒾,𝒾 𝒸𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝒻𝒾𝓃𝒹 𝒽ℯ𝓇ℯ 𝒾𝓃 𝓅𝒽𝒾𝓁𝒾𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓃ℯ𝓈.𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀𝓈!
Tassia Lefevrei yes definitely! Funnily, I actually made this dish today again, and I used 100% fresh chilli. Was good too!
If you have access to dry chilli powder, you can add 2-3 tsp chilli powder to the fresh blended chilli.
Oh and use 150gm fresh blended chilli!
Hello dear Balinese friend.
Have you heard or eaten our INDIA MANGO CHUTNEY OR TOMATO CHUTNEY DISH ???
IF NOT PLEASE TRY IT ....
PLEASE SWEAR CZcams
Will try it one day 💕
Substitute for lemon grass
I would just omit if you don’t have it! 😅
@@CarolTansKitchen oh thankyou
Anamika Toppo Which country are you in? 💕
@@CarolTansKitchen India
I just googled, maybe it’s a diff name there? They seem to grow it in India too! If you can get the whole lemongrass, just chop the white part of the stalk. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cymbopogon
Too much sugar lah
I found that if I put less, was a bit sour because of my tamarind. Did you adjust the sugar to your taste? 😄
Is there any substitute for tamarind paste?
Jo Marie Fragata hi Jo! Tamarind paste is a mix of sour and sweet, and if you really cannot find any in your grocery store, combine equal parts of lime/lemon juice (this provides the acidity) with sugar. Use the same amount of the mixture that the recipe requires for tamarind 💕
Thank u ms carol.. we only have tamarind powder.. can i use that?
Jo Marie Fragata yes definitely!!! Can you tell me the instructions on the packet? I want to know how strong the tamarind powder is..
Jo Marie Fragata I think I would try to dilute 2 tbsp with some water and then you will need to taste the dish overall at the end... to adjust the saltiness vs the sweetness ❤️