Bali-style tomato sambal

Spice up your life!

At long last tomatoes are starting to pop up at more affordable prices at the market. From hereon in they are only going to get more reasonably priced (I hope!) so this is the perfect time to start making plans for all the tomatoey things.

This recipe riffs off a sambal Rin and I learned to make at a village cooking lesson in Bali a few years ago (it was called Green Kitchen Bali.) Bali is the land of sambals of all kinds and if you’re a condiment nut like me, it’s another reason to consider this spiritual and holiday favourite a special and spicy kind of paradise.

We learned to make this using a wide, open kind of mortar and pestle (called a cobek, I believe). I’ve been coveting one ever since, to no avail, because they are brilliant for making pastes of all kinds.

If you - like me - don’t have a cobek at your place, you can use a food processor instead. Or a regular mortar and pestle.

Here’s how to spice up your life with this easy sambal …

I hope you are well, dear reader. I’m a little bit behind here, but I’m going to catch up!! Thanks for your support and for your patience, too. Love to you!

x pip

PS: read my latest blog post on my OG blog, Meet Me at Mike’s.