Sambal Tumis

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1500g red chillies

700g red onions

90g garlic

200g caster sugar

400g coconut milk

250g tamarind concentrate

200g vegetable oil

Method

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Cut chillies in half, deseed them and in a Thermomix blitz till a rough puree. Slice the garlic very thin alongside the red onion. Heat a pan with vegetable oil on a medium heat, sweat the onion and garlic, cook it down for 10-15 mins, then add your chillies. Keep it on low heat stir them for 20 mins till oil splits, add the sugar until caramelized, then add coconut milk. Cook for 5-10mins till mixture lightly thickens, add tamarind paste and cook it for about 3 hours. Season with salt.

Turmeric pickle

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1 litre Pilipino coconut cane vinegar

250 ml water

400g caster sugar

100g sliced ginger

10 pieces kaffir lime leaves

5g Maldon salt

2.5g turmeric powder

50g tamarind concentrate

Method

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Put cane vinegar, water in a pot with sugar, sliced ginger, kaffir lime leaves and salt. Bring it to the boil. Add turmeric powder, cover the pot with cling film and leave it to infuse. Once the pickle liquid is infused enough, let it cool down and finally mix with the tamarind concentrate.

Labneh

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500g labneh (hung yoghurt)

50g chopped preserved lemon skin

Method

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Take your whole preserved lemon pieces. Cut in quarters and remove the inside part. Once you have the skin, cut small cubes. Take the labneh and with a spatula fold the preserved lemon pieces inside.

Preserved lemon

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6 pieces unwaxed lemons

6 tbsp flaky sea salt

1 large red chilli

½ tbsp pink peppercorns

Olive oil

Method

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Sterilise your jar first. Wash the lemons and cut a deep cross all the way from the top to 2 cm from the base. Stuff each lemon with a spoonful of salt and place it in the jar. Push the lemons tightly. Leave it for a week, take half of the liquid out add your chilli alongside a splash of olive oil and close the jar. Leave it for around 4 weeks in a cool place. The longer you leave the jars the better the flavour.

Eggplant Sambal Mix

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2kg large eggplant

½ bunch coriander

500g sambal tumis

80g turmeric pickle

Salt

Method

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Wash your aubergines, cut the top off. Core your aubergines —not too deep just on surface level. Cut them into 1.5 inch thick, 4-5 pieces lengthways depends on the size of the aubergine, then slice them into cubes 2cm x 2 cm. Fry them in the deep fryer till golden dark brown. Let eggplant drain the oil properly, let it hang on a steamer tray for a few hours.

In a large bowl, mix your fried aubergines with 500g sambal tumis, 80g turmeric pickle and a bit of salt. Lastly before serving add fresh chopped coriander into the mix. Let it sit in the fridge overnight before using.

Method

step 1

Heat oil over medium-high heat in large non-stick skillet. Saute onions for 2 minutes, then add bell peppers, garlic and ginger and saute for 2 minutes more.

step 2

Add curry paste and peanut butter and saute for 1 minute. Add 1 ½ cans of coconut milk. Whisk cornstarch into remaining ½ can coconut milk then add to the pan. Stir well.

step 3

Add chicken, stirring to coat. Simmer for 10-15 minutes or just until chicken is no longer pink and sauce begins to thicken.

step 4

Stir in sugar, fish sauce, lime juice, and basil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

step 5

Serve over hot cooked rice.