Easy Sweet Sambal with Gula Melaka

You might thought that i did not like nasi lemak anymore since you did not see me cook nasi lemak so frequently. In fact, we are still enjoying nasi lemak, but we bought it from outside more often as we found a stall selling good nasi lemak near my area..

Anyway, yesterday i just cooked nasi lemak with this easy sambal recipe from my blogger friend Makcik Manggis and using the good gula melaka (palm sugar) given by Penang bloggers .



My family complaint this sambal taste too sweet, i guess i have added too much of gula melaka but my daughter said it taste similar like sambal that selling outside by Malay nasi lemak stall. I have reduced gula melaka in below recipe, you might just need to adjust to suit your taste. Anyway, this sambal is easy to be prepared with just few ingredients.

Easy Sweet Sambal with Gula Melaka
(recipe source: adapted from Makcik Manggis with minor changes)

15g dried chili (trim and cut into 2-3pcs, boil in hot water and drained)
2 fresh red chilies
3 large onions
a small knob of belacan (shrimp paste)
50g Gula Melaka (palm sugar)
1pc tamarind peel (asam keping)
1 cup cooking oil
½ cup water
salt to taste

Method
1. Blend dried chilies, fresh red chilies, onions and belacan (with little water) till fine paste.
2. Heat cooking oil in a wok, deep fry 1 cup of ikan bilis (anchovies) till golden brown. Remove fried ikan bilis and keep aside for later serve with nasi lemak.
3. Add in blended chili paste into remaining oil, sauté till aroma.
4. Add in gula Melaka, tamarind peel and salt, continue to sauté over low flame for 30mins. Cook till half way, paste will become thick, add in water and continue cook.
5. Serve with coconut rice (refer old recipe here ) and other condiments like fried ikan bilis, cucumber slices, hard-boiled eggs, roast peanuts and other as per your preference.