Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cups roasted unsalted peanuts
• 3 each red chilies – stemmed, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic – chopped
• 1 each shallot – chopped
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp palm sugar – finely grated
• 1.5 cups water
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste
• 2 tbsp kecap manis
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp lime juice – freshly squeezed

Instructions

1. Chop the garlic, shallot, and red chilies.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a skillet over medium heat. Fry the chopped garlic, shallot, and chilies until fragrant and lightly golden, 2–3 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Grind the roasted unsalted peanuts in a food processor or mortar to a coarse paste.
4. Add the fried aromatics and palm sugar to the peanuts and process or pound to a rough, cohesive paste.
5. Scrape the paste into a saucepan and add the tamarind paste, kecap manis, salt, and water. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently.
6. Simmer 8–12 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce thickens to a spoon-coating consistency and a slight sheen of oil rises to the surface.
7. Stir in the lime juice. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Serve warm or at room temperature.