This is the new and improved version of sambal kacang - Indonesian peanut sauce. It could also be called sambal pecel - pecel is a vegetable dish consisting of bland, boiled leafy vegetables served with this type of peanut sauce, similar to the more famous gado gado, but without the tempeh, tofu, etc.
This is a traditional version, meaning that it's quite labor intensive and is made from all whole ingredients.
Makes.... a LOT - multiple portions! This recipe is for the base, which you would thin with boiling water to the consistency you want. The reason for this is that the base is very dry and will last a long time - a couple of weeks at room temp or several months in the refrigerator. When you want some, just take a few spoonfuls and thin with boiling water until you have the quantity and consistency you're looking for.
Ingredients:
200g raw peanuts (deskinned)
60g red chillies - mostly keriting (medium spicy) and a few rawit (very spicy)
125g shallots (about 8 small shallots or 3-4 Western shallots) - skin and ends removed
20g garlic (peeled, end removed, halved and germ removed if exists)
4-8 kaffir lime leaves, destemmed (size dependent)
11.4g roasted shrimp paste - 3 sachets ABC brand (3.8g each)
1C (approx.) peanut oil
60g palm sugar, grated or chopped finely
1T salt (plus more to taste)
1t MSG
1t seedless tamarind paste
Instructions:
1) cook the whole chillies in a pan of boiling water until soft - about 5 minutes, drain
2) heat the oil in a wok over medium/low heat and fry the shallots until softened and slightly brown
3) remove/drain the shallots, repeat with the garlic
4) remove/drain the garlic and fry the lime leaves for a minute or so, then remove/drain
5) fry the peanuts in the oil, stirring constantly, until just less than golden brown, then remove/drain
6) In a food processor, roughly chop the chillies/shallots/garlic/lime leaves/shrimp paste, remove and set aside
7) Roughly chop the fried peanuts
8 ) Move the chilli/shallot, etc mixture to an Indonesian mortar (cobek), add the tamarind, salt, MSG and palm sugar then grind until smooth as possible
9) Add the peanuts to the mixture and continue to grind - the paste will become very stiff and dry as it cools
To check seasoning, add a little bit of boiling water to a teaspoon or so of ground mixture and mix until you have the desired consistency
