Nasi Lemak Chilli (Sambal Chilli)

Nasi Lemak Chilli (Sambal Chilli) has lots of variation, and I managed to learn from Eve's auntie, who used to work in a Baba family for over 8 years! Hence she taught me the recipe and it's totally delicious! One important point to take note is: Good food takes effort and patience. This dish honestly involves persistence and hardwork. Feel that in school, detentions should get the students to do the pounding with mortar and pestle. It takes mind and physical work to complete the task.

Nasi Lemak Chilli (Sambal Chilli)

Ingredients

6 candle nuts

4 pieces of belachan of 1cm thickness

50g of dried chilli

500g of chopped onions

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

6 tablespoons of coconut milk

6 tablespoons of cooking oil

Candle nuts and pieces of belachan

Chopped onions

Steps

1. Soak dried chilli with hot water till moist. Remove the seeds and pound the chilli flesh using a mortar and pestle till it's into a paste. Put into a bowl.

2. Pound the chopped onions and put into a bowl.

Picture of me with the mortar. It takes effort to keep pounding and pounding!

3. Pound the candle nuts and belachan together. Slowly add the onions together with it. Make sure they become paste-like. Do in batches.

Finished product of the paste with onions

4. Hand mix the chilli and the paste together.

5. Heat up oil and fry the chilli paste till fragrant (about 20 minutes), and add the sugar and coconut milk.

Frying of the chilli paste and it's fragrant!

6. Leave it to cool and serve!

End product of the Nasi Lemak Chilli. You can even eat it on it's own!

Notes

1. Candle nuts are used to absorb the moisture from the onions and chilli. It's a small tip from my Auntie.

2. The pounding takes about 30 minutes to complete. No pain, no gain.

3. The coconut milk can be freshly squeezed or bought off from the supermarkets.

4. Do not add too much belachan as it may cause the whole chilli paste to have much sour smell.

5. Eat this chilli with rice. It's very delicious and addictive! Give it a try!