Sweet Garlicky Chilli Sauce

This is something I learned to make from my Granny. It's sweet and garlicky, and goes really well with all kinds of food, especially fried items like fish, chicken, vermicelli, noodles ... virtually everything! You can also have it as a dip, with some keropok (prawn or fish crackers) or tempeh. My recipe for crispy Tempeh Chips can be found here.



Making this chilli sauce is a lot less work than making curry rempah ... only 3 main ingredients required. You can use a food processor if you don't want to pound the traditional way. But I still prefer using my pestle and mortar if I have the time, because chilli seeds do not get smashed finely in food processors.

Recipe
(as told by Granny)
- About 1 handful garlic cloves (or more, if you like a stronger garlicky flavour)
- About 1 handful shallots
- About 1 handful large red chilli (deseed the chilli if you don't like it too spicy)
- 3 tbsp sugar (or more if you like it sweeter)
- Pinch of salt
- About 1/2 rice bowl vegetable oil

As you can see, there is NO specific recipe. Haha ... that's the thing about learning from real cooks ;) Everything is a guesstimate! However, I can see the wisdom in this because it's up to your individual tastes. You should taste as you cook, and finetune along the way. It will turn out right :)

1. Pound (or blitz) the first 3 ingredients to a paste.

2. Fry in oil over low flame till the oil floats to the top (about 45mins).

3. Add in sugar and salt and continue frying for another 10mins. Taste and adjust accordingly. Turn off flame.

4. Allow to cool before bottling. Refrigerate.