Indonesian Sambal Oelek

Name: Indonesian Sambal Oelek
Prep time: 10 min
Total time: 10 min
Yield: 8 servings
Cuisine: Indonesian
Ingredients: 20 red bird's eye chillies (or to taste); 4 garlic cloves; 2 shallots; 1 tsp shrimp paste (or skip for vegan); 1 tbsp salt; 1 tbsp sugar; 2 tbsp lime juice; 2 tbsp oil

A fiery Indonesian raw chilli paste with garlic, salt and lime — the foundational Indonesian condiment, added to almost everything.

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⏱️

10 minPrep

🔥

—Cook

🍽️

8Serves

📊

EasyLevel

Ingredients

20 red bird's eye chillies (or to taste)
4 garlic cloves
2 shallots
1 tsp shrimp paste (or skip for vegan)
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp oil

Instructions

Blend or pound everything to a coarse paste.
Heat oil; fry the paste 5 min — sharpens the flavour.
Cool; transfer to a clean jar.
Drizzle with oil to seal.

Tara’s tips

Use gloves with the chillies.
Adjust heat to taste.

Serving suggestions

Use a teaspoon in stir-fries, soups, eggs, on rice.

Storage & reheating

Keeps 3 weeks in the fridge under oil.

Nutrition

Nutrition information is not yet available for this recipe. Values vary with portion size and exact ingredients — we will add verified figures here soon.