Sambal is a sauce or condiment typically made from chili peppers and combined with secondary ingredients such as shrimp paste, garlic, ginger, scallion, sugar, and vinegar. Tamarind can also be seen commonly added to sambal to make variations on the condiment. I wanted to keep it simple and prepare a very easy sambal that you can make at home but also re-create an authentic and real taste.
Boiling and then blending the dried chilies make a great basic chili paste which can be used in frying cauliflower rice and zoodles or even just some stir-fries. A chili paste itself is not sambal yet. To create sambal the chili paste is blended with other ingredients, and then eaten raw or cooked beforehand. For this specific sambal, we use it in our Ketogenic Nasi Lemak.
Remember, the smaller the chili used then the spicier the sambal will be. Make sure that you remove the seeds of the chilis and wash before boiling.
Warning: Boiling the dried chilis can be quite aromatic, and might smell weird to some people. So, you might want to open a window to ensure proper ventilation if you find that you’re easily overwhelmed with strong smells.
Yields 10 servings of Homemade Sambal
The Preparation
- 1 large onion
- 0.35 ounce bird's eye chile pepper
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons low-carb ketchup
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- 2 drops liquid sucralose
The Execution
1. Roughly chop the onion and blend in a blender until smooth. Set aside.
2. To prepare chili paste, roughly cut the dried chilis and remove seeds. Boil them for about 30 minutes or until soft.
3. Once soft and cooled, blend to a paste.
4. In a pan over medium heat, melt the coconut oil. Once it becomes hot add in the blended onion, chilies, reduced sugar ketchup, and salt. Let simmer for a few minutes until the oil separates from the sauce.
5. Use this sambal as a sauce or a cooking seasoning in future recipes! This sauce is featured in the Ketogenic Nasi Lemak recipe.
This makes a total of 10 servings of Homemade Sambal. Each serving comes out to be 33 calories, 2.7g fats, 1.3g net carbs, and 0.2g protein.
| NUTRITION | CALORIES | FAT | CARBS | FIBER | NET CARBS | PROTEIN |
| 1 large onion | 51 | 0.1 | 12 | 2.2 | 9.8 | 1.7 |
| 0.35 ounce bird's eye chile pepper | 4 | 0 | 0.9 | 0.2 | 0.7 | 0.2 |
| 2 tablespoon coconut oil | 243 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 3 tablespoon low-carb ketchup | 27 | 0.1 | 2.8 | 0 | 2.8 | 0 |
| 1/2 teaspoon salt | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 drop liquid sucralose | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 325 | 27.2 | 15.6 | 2.3 | 13.3 | 1.9 |
| Per Serving (/10) | 33 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 0.2 | 1.3 | 0.2 |
Homemade Sambal
Ingredients
- 1 large onion
- 0.35 ounce bird's eye chile pepper
- 2 tablespoon coconut oil
- 3 tablespoon low-carb ketchup
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste
- 2 drop liquid sucralose
Instructions
- Roughly chop the onion and blend in a blender until smooth. Set aside.
- To prepare chili paste, roughly cut the dried chilis and remove seeds. Boil them for about 30 minutes or until soft.
- Once soft and cooled, blend to a paste.
- In a pan over medium heat, melt the coconut oil. Once it becomes hot add in the blended onion, chilies, reduced sugar ketchup, and salt. Let simmer for a few minutes until the oil separates from the sauce.
- Use this sambal as a sauce or a cooking seasoning in future recipes! This sauce is featured in the Ketogenic Nasi Lemak recipe.
