Homemade Kampung Stlye Sambal & Chili Boh

Making our own sambal is quite a common task at home over here in Malaysia but making a good and traditional sambal yet isn't an easy job for everyone. Hubby said nowadays it's too difficult to find a good old days sambal ikan bilis for nasi lemak and most food stall owner even tried to skip the fried anchovies (to cut down the cost) from their nasi lemak which makes it even worst. However, I'm glad that I still have the chance to learn a very good homemade sambal ikan bilis from a friend of my neighbourhood. According to her, the best sambal is actually came from chili boh and that is why we need to produce our own homemade chili boh. Stall bought chili boh is not the best choice cause they are normally soaked with vinegar (for better expansion) and causing the dried chili less tasty and aromatic after cooked. Other than that we need to blend soaked dried chili till really fine. It's best till the all seeds can't be seen. If the seeds are not well blended, it may cause stomachache or cramp. So, are you ready for this ?

Ingredients for Homemade Chili Boh :
200gm  dried chili, halved
1 inch ginger, sliced
5 shallots, sliced
5 cloves garlic
2 cups cooking oil

Method :
(1) soak dried chili till softened (for about 4 hours or more with warm water, do not use hot water) then blend all soaked chili, ginger, shallot & garlic till smooth.
(2) preheat frying pan with cooking oil then stir in all blended chili mixture and let to simmer over medium heat for about 15-20 mins or till the chili mixture turned dark red colour.
(3) then let cooked chili cool to room temperature, divide into 4 portions and keep refrigerated, for storage keep frozen for months.

Oooo.....now, here's the kampung style sambal I mentioned about. I keep it less oil. For those prefer more chili oil then you have to increase the cooking oil. But be caution, the oil will split all over the kitchen if you added in more cooking oil.

And here's what I did.

Ingredients for Homemade Sambal :
1-2/3 to 2 cups  homemade chili boh
(also equal to one portion of the above homemade chili boh)
50gm   dried anchovies, washed then fried till brown
50gm   dried shrimp, soaked for an hour then fried till brown
1 large onion, sliced
1 cup cooking oil
1 tspn  vegetable granule
1 TB  sugar
salt to taste

Method :
(1) blend together fried anchovies & fried dried shrimps with 1 to 1-1/2 cup of water till fine.
(2)preheat frying pan with cooking oil then stir in onion once it's ready.
(3) saute onion till fragrant then add in the rest ingredients and simmer for about 15-20 mins by stirring it constantly or till the sambal became thick or turn dark red colour. And it's ready to serve.

I simply adored the redness of this homemade sambal and can't wait to serve it with my coconut rice & hard boiled egg. Slurpppp..... So, stay tune for more.
For storage : keep refrigerated all times & reheat whenever it's needed.
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I'm sending this to Sharon @ Muhibbah Malaysian Monday.