Sweet sambal tumis, a CNY potluck

Today i would like to share this sweet sambal tumis (improve version from here) that i prepared for a recent CNY potluck party held at my house..I always prefer sambal tumis (mean slow stirring in Malay) with slightly sweet taste.

These are the foods that I prepared
1. Nasi Lemak with sweet sambal ikan bilis (just cook fried ikan bilis paste and onion with this sweet sambal tumis)
2. sambal udang (just cook this sweet sambal tumis with some chopped garlic, prawn and onion),
3. fragrant fried chicken with lemongrass and spices (this time i added more lemongrass and omit curry leaves)
4. Lychee Lime Soda drink (not in the picture)..

I love the 2 tier cake stand given by Jane and I use it to serve the Nasi Lemak's condiments, peanuts, ikan bilis, cucumber, hard-boiled eggs, and stir fried kangkung.

These were the bloggers came and their yummy foods:-

1. Lena (Frozen Wings)- sweet sour crabs, radish cake and pandan kuih.
2. Veronica (Quay Po's cooks) -Tuna Cheese Mini Toast, Swedish Wedding Balls and cauliflower salad
3. Swee San (The Sweet Spot)- Pistachio Blackberry Cake and Plum Frangipanne Tart
4. Sharon (Feats and Feasts) - Pork Stuffed Youtiao and Apple Cabbage Slaw
5. Wendy ( Table for 2 or more)- beef rendang, Kumquat Almond Tea Cakes and Goiabinhas

Sorry, i forgot to include ReeseKitchen (she reminded me ^_^) who did not manage to attend this portluck party due to personal reason, but she was so kind to contribute salted paprika grilled chicken wings (forgot to take picture)..

Veron (Quay Po) serving us nasi lemak ^_^

Now come to the sambal tumis recipe. I remembered my Malay friend told me to add more cooking oil when tumis sambal and need long stirring, so this time i added 3/4cup cooking oil to cook this sambal for an hour.

Also i checked with a Malay makcik who selling nasi lemak, she use bawang Rose (Rose shallots) to cook sambal

If you don't like too sweet sambal, you can reduce the amount of sugar..
Latest update- Actually i cooked with 1 cup of cooking oil, but i only mentioned 3/4cup of oil in below recipe because i feel the amount of oil is a bit too much. After cooked for few times, i think 1 cup of oil just nice..so you choice of preference, less oil or more oil...
Updated on 27th Nov 2012-if you intend to make extra sambal and keep in freezer for later usage, I suggest not to add in "tamarind pulp" as not all recipes requires to add tamarind..
Updated on 6th Apr 2013- cooking oil increased to 1 cup to 2 cups...adjust accordingly..

Sweet Sambal Tumis
(recipe source: by Sonia aka Nasi Lemak Lover)

100g dried chilies
100g fresh red chilies
10g bird’s eye chilies
250g shallots (I use Rose shallots, bawang Rose)
1 big onion
10g ginger
15g galangal (blue ginger)
30g garlic
15g belacan (shrimp paste)

1 cup to 2 cups of cooking oil **updated on 06 Apr 2013
40g tamarind pulp , add 1/4cup water to become assam water, discard the seeds
50g sugar or palm sugar (gula Melaka)
1tsp salt

Method
1. Use a scissor to discard dried chili’s head and cut into 2-3pcs and boil in hot water for 5mins. Drain and discard the chili seeds if you want less spicy.
2. Toast belacan in a frying pan, chopping and break it up till powdery and aromatic.
3. Blend dried chili, fresh chili, shallots, big onion, ginger, galangal and toasted belacan with 1/4cup of water till smooth paste.
4. Pour chili paste into a big wok, stir fry for 5-10mins over medium low heat until slightly dried paste (By not adding oil at this time as to avoid oil spill)
5. Now add in cooking oil, continue stirring (tumis) over low heat for 30-40mins. The chili paste will turn darker, light and oil separated after long stirring.
6. Add in assam water, salt and sugar, continue stirring (tumis) for 5-10mins.
7. Leave to cool before storing in the fridge or freeze in small containers for later use.

You may also visit two of my blogger friends who also cook a good sambal,  Tee Kitchen and Mummy I can cook .

This basic sambal tumis is very versatile, you can use it to prepare the followings dishes that i can think of:-

1. sambal ikan bilis (anchovies)- just deep fried ikan bilis, pound into paste and add into sambal tumis.
2. sambal "Hae Bi" (dried shrimps)-pound dried shrimps into paste and add into sambal tumis
3. sambal sotong (squid)
4. sambal udang (prawn) or Assam prawn
5. sambal goreng tempe
6. Mamak style mee goreng
7. Malay style meehoon goreng
8. Laksa
9. sambal petai
10. sambal ikan (fish) or Assam fish
11. Nasi goreng
and etc