Coconut Sambol
Coconut, chilli and shallot worked together with your fingers until the whole bowl turns brick red.
Why it works
Sambol is made by pressure rather than by chopping: squeezing the shallot and chilli into the coconut bruises them and releases enough juice to stain and moisten the lot, which no amount of stirring with a spoon will do. The lime goes in last, because the acid firms the coconut up and stops it giving out any more of its own oil.
Method
- If you are using desiccated coconut, put it in a bowl with the warm water and leave it 5 minutes to swell. Frozen grated coconut thaws in the same water in about the same time. Fresh needs nothing.
- Add the chilli, shallots, salt and pepper. Work the mixture with your fingertips, squeezing and rubbing handfuls against the side of the bowl for a full minute, until the coconut has gone from white to an even brick red and feels damp rather than dry.
- Squeeze in the juice of half the lime, work it through once more and taste. It should read hot, then salty, then sharp. Add lime and salt until it does.
- Press it into a small cup and turn it out onto the plate as a dome. Cut the rest of the lime into wedges alongside.
For the toddler
Take a spoonful of the soaked coconut out at the end of step 1, before the chilli, shallot and salt go in. Make sure it is properly damp rather than dry and powdery, and moisten it with a little more warm water if it is not. The finished sambol is far too hot for them, so keep it off their plate and let the plain coconut stand in for it.
How the toddler notes workChef’s notes
A torn curry leaf or two goes in with the shallot in most kitchens in Colombo. Red onion works in place of shallot, at half the quantity.
Frozen grated coconut needs no soaking and thaws in the bowl in the time it takes to chop the shallots.
Dhal and rice, a fish curry, or plain grilled mackerel that wants something fierce beside it.
Keeps 3 days chilled and gets hotter as it sits. Toast a spoonful in a dry pan and fold it through rice.