Sambal Hijau (Green Sambal)

Sambal lado mudo or Sambal hijau or green sambal  is a very famous type of sambal originated from Minangkabau. It is usually used as a condiment for Minang dish and always available in all Padang or Minang restaurant. Hmm... its color is green. Is it spicy? Oh yeah. Of course. Do not get fooled by its color. It is as spicy as red sambal. 

I made this sambal last week as a condiment for my beef rendang dish. I  think I told you previously that i really want to eat beef rendang complete with green sambal like i usually ate in Indonesia. I could buy this dish in Indonesian Restaurant in Netherlands but they a little bit pricey. That's why I made them by myself using my mother in law's recipe. 

I always thought that it has a complicated process. But it turns out not that hard to make. I only need a lot of green chili peppers, shallot, garlic, green tomatoes, dried tiny anchovies (we call it ikan teri), and some sugar and salt for taste. I can always buy green peppers in Asian or Turkish grocery store. But it is not easy to find green tomatoes in here. That's why i use orange tomatoes. For the dried anchovies, I use canned anchovies instead. It is easier to find and the result is as good as my mother in law's sambal. 

Ingredients :

• 10 green chili pepper, remove the stems
• 12 small green chili pepper, remove the stems
• 5 medium shallots, peeled (about 8-10 Indonesian shallots)
• 3 cloves of garlic, peeled
• 2 unripe tomatoes, remove the core.
• 2 1/2 tsp white granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 can anchovies, drain the oil (about 30 grams net)
• 6 tbs vegetable oil

Tip : If you want to make an extra spicy version, feel free to increase the amount of small green chili pepper.

Preparation :

1. Prepare a steamer, fill it with water, and let the water boiled.
2. Roughly cut all chili peppers (about 1.5 cm each) and shallots.
3. Put all chili peppers, shallots, garlic, and tomatoes into the steamer. Cover the steamer, and steam them for about 20-25 minutes or until all the ingredients become soft and tender.
4. Turn off the heat, and remove the tomatoes' skin. 
5. Transfer all those ingredients into a mortar and grind them roughly with the pestle. 
6. In a pan, heat the oil. 
7. Transfer those roughly ground chili peppers mixture into the pan.
8. Add sugar, salt, and anchovies into the pan
9. Stir and cook it for about 15 minutes or until the sambal  is cooked, become aromatic, and all the ingredients are really soft.
10. Turn off the heat and it is ready to serve.

Tip : If you do not have steamer, you can always make your own steamer using a pot and a strainer. Put the strainer on the top of the pot filled with water, put the ingredients on the strainer, cover the pan with the lid or aluminium foil, put it on medium heat, and let them steamed.

Just make sure your strainer is not too small for the pot. Otherwise the strainer can easily fall down to the water and all the ingredients will be ruined.

Tip : If you don't have mortar and pestle, you can always grind the ingredients with food processor or chopper or blender. Just be careful to not overchop the ingredients. We would want the texture rough and have a big chunk of chili pepper. If you do not have all of them, the back of the spoon and a bowl will work as well. But you need to cut the chili peppers, shallot, and garlic in smaller pieces.