Our Ever Lasting Indonesian Sambal Tomat
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| Fresh Yummy Sambal Tomat |
Sambal Tomat is very popular in Indonesia, especially in Java. Almost all Javanese people love it very much. There are a lot kind of different sambals in Indonesia. And Sambal Tomat or tomatoe sambal is one of them.
Eating without sambal is very difficult for Indonesians. That is why Indonesians Ibu-ibu (that is how we call our dedicated loving mothers) seem to be in troubled when the price of chillies go up for they will be the one who face questions from the members of the family: Mana sambalnya? (translated: Where is the sambal?)
You can find Sambal Tomat everywhere in Java, East Java, West Java, and Central Java. And you actually can make it easily too.
The ingredients that you need are:
1. Some chillies (3 or 4 big ones and 4 or 5 small ones)
2. One medium tomatoes
3. A half spoon of sand sugar (if you like sweet, you can put more sand sugar in it)
4. Little bit of salt
5.A little bit shrimp paste
6. A little bit of lemon juice
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| Small Chilies or Cabai Kecil |
You can decide the level of spiciness based on your own taste preference. If you are a big fan of super spicy food, you can put as many chillies as possible. I usually put three big red chillies and three or four small chillies.
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| Big Chillies or cabai Besar |
How to make it?
Well, it is very simple! Just put all the ingredients on a grinder and then you grind them all until all are grounded smoothly. Once all the ingredients are grounded put some lemon juice (just a little bit), your Sambal Tomat is ready.
Some people make a lot of Sambal Tomat so they can have ready to eat Sambal Tomat. To keep it fresh, they fry all the ingredients before they grind them all.
If you wonder whether you can use mixer or not to make it. The answer is kind of yes or no because our elder mothers believe, if you use blender to blend the ingredients, the taste will not be very tasty any longer. The one that you grind by your own hands is tastier.
I don't know whether to believe or not. Somehow, I definitely prefer my own hand grounded Sambal Tomat than the blended one! 😋😌
Well to prove it, you can try making your own Sambal Tomat in your home. And please share with me if you like it or not.
We usually eat Sambal Tomat like westerners eat with tomato sauce. We put some on the edge of our plates. And we eat it with fried fish, fried or steamed tempe, fried meat, or with boiled green vegetables such as boiled cassava young leaves, boiled papaya young leaves, or fresh cucumber. We put a little Sambal Tomat with what we eat little by little until all that we eat finish. Sambal tomat has a lot of vitamins that are good for us!
Have fun eating with Sambal Tomat, Guys!
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