Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Sambal Ikan Bilis (Spicy Anchovies)

My first attempt at this and it was a success! Been quite sick and tired of making nasi lemak with my ayam masak merah and was looking through my recipe book when I came across the recipe for sambal ikan bilis. A recipe which I've had for a long time but never tried. So I finally put it to test and it turned out simply yummy!
You can serve this with other dishes besides nasi lemak. My first attempt was served with fried rice.




Ingredients:
200g ikan bilis (anchovies)
4 tbsp tamarind pulp - to mix with 12 tbsp of water (filter and discard seed after that)
8tbsp castor sugar (or according to your liking)
salt to taste
1 big yellow onion (sliced - more if you are an onion person and would love to have more in your nasi lemak)
1 cup cooking oil

Sambal Ingredients:
150 - 200g chilli boh (ground dried chilli that can be found in the markets/supermarkets)
*if you cant find the ready ground chilli boh, you can always make your own. Just soak the dried chilli until they are soft and use a food processor to grind them*
2 whole garlic
14 shallots
6 candlenuts (buah keras)
3 stalks lemongrass (1/3 of each stalk required only)
1 tsp belacan granules

Method:
1. Blend sambal ingredients with tamarind pulp. Put aside.
2. Pre fry ikan bilis and leave aside.
3. heat up oil and fry the sambal ingredients. Add in sugar and salt to taste.
4. Add pre fried ikan bilis and the sliced onion. Toss until onion is slightly softened.
5. Can be served hot or cooled down.