Anchovies Chili or Sambal Ikan Bilis

After introducing my home made chili paste, i will start to introduce some chili food using this chili paste. First of all, the simplest but very yummy dish will be anchovies chili or sambal ikan bilis. This is a simple dish however when i was first try out i failed! I did not cook long enough as the result it was still taste "wet". Oil must be sufficient! My second and third attempt were turn out failing too due to i did not put enough cooking oil and the end result turned up very dry and it was like almost "burn out". So, the secret is cook longer until it turns brown red and cooking oil must be sufficient. Too little or too much will also jeopardize the taste. I observed 1 tablespoon of chili should follow with 1 tablespoon of chili paste. Try it out!

Prepare Time: 5min
Cook Time: 10min
Serving: 3-4 persons

Estimate Cost: RM2

Ingredients:
Home made chili paste 6 spoons
Cooking oil 6 tablespoons
Anchovies 100gram or depend
Sugar 1 tablespoon

Instructions:
1. Remove the head and the internal organs of anchovies.
2. Wash and drain the anchovies and set aside.
3. Heat up the fry pan and add in the cooking oil.
4. Deep fry anchovies until it turns crunchy or brown and set aside.
5. Reduce heat to low.
6. Pour in the home made chili paste and stir continuously to avoid the paste from burn.
7. Keep stirring until the chili turns to brownish red.
8. Add in the sugar and stir a short while.
9. Turn off the heat.
10. Add in fried anchovies and stir evenly then serve.

Home Made Chili Paste

I like hot and spicy food. In the past, i use to cook with the ready make chili paste for curry fish head, curry chicken and other possible ready made chili paste available in market. After some insight views from my sister, i came to realize with a very minimum effort i can also cook very nice hot and spicy food without buying any ready made chili paste from supermarket. In fact i was quite proud with it because i can also proudly present some tasty chili food at home. Hubby loves my chili food.

In the past i was quite hesitate to cook hot and spicy food at home using natural ingredients because i need to blend chili, onion and garlic each time i want to cook chili food. With this recipe, you can prepare the chili paste in quite a lump sum and frozen it for later use. I found it very convenient and do not worry the freshness of the paste as it remind good after 2-3 months in my fridge. Just let it cools down in room temperature for at least one hour before you want to scope out the portion you want. After that just put it back for frozen.

Below recipe will produce around 500gram chili paste.


Prepare Time: 1 hour


Ingredients:
Dry Chili 150gram
Onion medium size 8 pieces
Garlic 6 gloves
Candle nuts (Buah Keras) 100gram - optional but it adds the aromatic of the paste

Instructions:
1. Cut away the top part of the chili. Cut the dry chili into halves with scissor. Remove the chili seeds by cutting through the halved chili and remove the seeds with scissor.
2. Add hot water to the chili until it is fully covered and rest it until it becomes soft.
3. Drain away the water.
4. Peel off the onion and garlic skin. Wash and drain well.
5. Wash the candle nuts and drain well.
6. Divide all the ingredients into two portion so that it can fit into the standard blender.
7. Add some water when the chili mixture stick on the blender side wall. Continue blending it until it turns to a smooth mixture or paste.
8. Repeat for the another portion.
9. Add the two portion together after blend and store in a storage for later use.


Remark: This chili paste will become the standard chili paste in any of my chili recipe in this blog.
Let say, if you want to add some kunyit in your recipe, just blend the kunyit and afterwards mix into this chili paste.

Lemak Prawns or Lemak Udang

If you like chili and seafood, this is a must try recipe! I love this recipe because it is so simple and it is a sure work recipe. In this recipe, i use fresh milk instead the coconut milk. You may use coconut milk if you want.



Prepare Time: 30min
Cook Time: 30min
Serving: 3-4 persons

Estimate Cost: RM12

Ingredients:
Fresh prawns 300gram
Cabbage 1 piece
Home made chili paste 3 big spoons
Fresh milk 300ml
Curry leaves 2 stalks (optional)
Cooking oil 2 tablespoons

Instructions:
1. Cut away the prawn's antenna, wash and drain.
2. Peel off the cabbage, wash and drain.
3. Hot the pan and add two tablespoons of cooking oil.
4. Stir fry the home made chili paste until aromatic and add the cabbage.
5. Stir fry the cabbage and then pour in the fresh milk and stir well.
6. Cover the pan lid and turn to low heat.
7. Cook until the cabbage turns soft in case the milk is too little add in some hot water or add more milk.
8. Add in the prawns and cook until they turn red and then serve warm.