Sambal
Traditional sambal terasi, served in a stone mortar with garlic and lime | |
| Course | Condiment or side dish |
|---|---|
| Place of origin | Indonesia |
| Region or state | Java |
| Associated cuisine | Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, Sri Lanka, Netherlands, and Suriname |
| Serving temperature | Room temperature |
| Main ingredients | Ground chilli pepper with salt, sugar, cooking oil, shallot, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, shrimp paste (terasi), and anchovies |
Sambal (Indonesian pronunciation: [ˈsambal]) is an Indonesian chili sauce or paste, typically made from a mixture of chillis with secondary ingredients such as shrimp paste (terasi), garlic, ginger, shallot, scallion, palm sugar, and lime juice. Sambal is an Indonesian loanword of Javanese origin (Javanese: ꦱꦩ꧀ꦧꦼꦭ꧀ samběl).
In addition to Indonesian cuisine, sambal is also an integral part of the cuisines of Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and Sri Lanka. It has also spread through overseas Indonesian populations to the Netherlands and Suriname.
Different sambal recipes are served as hot and spicy condiments for dishes, such as lalab (raw vegetables), ikan bakar (grilled fish), ikan goreng (fried fish), ayam goreng (fried chicken), ayam penyet (smashed chicken), iga penyet (ribs), and various soto soups. There are at least 212 variants of sambal in Indonesia, most of which originate in Java.