Malay Dry Chili Paste
https://nomadette.com/dried-chilli-paste/
INGREDIENTS
- 20g or about 20 dried chilies
- 1 red onion or 3-4 shallots
- 4 cloves of garlic
- ¼ cup of water
DIRECTIONS
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Wash the dried chilies.
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Place dried chilies in a heatproof bowl, and add boiling water to the bowl. Let it sit for about 10 minutes, or until the chilies rehydrate.
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Place rehydrated chilies in a blender – you can cut into smaller pieces for easier blending – along with shallots or onions, garlic and water.
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Finely blend to a paste.
TIPS
TURNING THIS INTO A SAMBAL
This makes for amazingly quick sambal chili paste:
- Stir fry two tablespoons of the dried chili paste in a pan with three to four tablespoons of oil. Keep a low heat so that the chilies do not burn.
. - Sauté until the chili paste “splits oil” – that is when it has dried and turned a darker hue, and the oil has turned red. If you used lots of oil, the red oil would be floating on top of the chilli paste.
(For more information on this oil splitting process, see post: How to Cook Dried Chilli Paste | “Pecah Minyak” or ‘Oil Splitting’)
- Add 1/2 teaspoon each of salt and sugar, or to taste. Done!