Easy Angled Beans Sambal (Sambal Kacang Botol)
A quick and easy vegetable sambal dish that is very fragrant and slightly spicy, with a hint of tanginess and saltiness. With thick and tasty gravy, these crunchy four angled beans is perfect with steaming white rice.
Equipment
- Sharp Kitchen Knife
- Chopping Board
- Blender/ Food Processor
- Wok
- Turner
Ingredients
- 240 g four angled beans, washed, tips removed and cut slantingly into 2 inches in length
- 50 ml cooking oil
- 1/8 tsp salt, optional
- 1/2 tbsp sugar
- 30 ml tamarind water, concentrated
- 50 ml water
Blend Together
- 1 stalk lemongrass, chopped roughly
- 2 red chilli, chopped
- 10 g young galangal, chopped roughly. Can be substituted with 5g of old galangal
- 95 g shallots, peeled and cut to large pieces
- 25 g garlic, peeled and cut into large pieces
- 10 g turmeric, lightly broken with skin on
- 1 tbsp chilli paste, for extra spiciness, optional
- 12 g dried prawns, washed, with water drained
- 100 ml water
- 8 g shrimp paste, belacan (less salty type)
Instructions
- Prepare the four angled beans. Remove the tips on both ends. Cut slantingly into 1.5 to 2 inch pieces. Set them all aside.
- Prepare the herbs to blend. Starting with the most fibrous herb, roughly chop the lemongrass into thin chunks. Set them aside.
- Remove the stems from the red chillies and chop them roughly. Set aside.
- Roughly chop the galangal into small, thin pieces. Set them aside.
- If the shallots and garlic are large, cut them into halves or thirds. Set aside.
- Keep the turmeric with the skin on, and with the tip of the knife, break it into half.
- Add all the herbs into the blender, together with the chilli paste, washed dried shrimps, water and shrimp paste. Blend smooth and even in colour, for about 30 seconds.
- Warm the cooking oil in a stainless steel pan over medium heat.
- While the oil is still cool, add all the sambal mixture, scraping the blender to get it all out. Stir continuously until all the mixture has combined with the cooking oil.
- When the sambal mixture is starting to boil, add the salt, sugar and concentrated tamarind water. Continuously stir for about 5 minutes, or until it becomes very thick and paste-like.
- Spread the sambal as evenly as you can in the pan. Add all the angled beans and mix until they are well coated with the sambal paste. Add some water to help with this.
- Continuously fry for 3 minutes for just-cooked, crunchy angled beans. For softer angled beans, fry for about 5 minutes.
- Taste and adjust as preferred.
- Switch off the heat and dish it out.
- Enjoy with a plate of white rice.
Notes
Tips
- Cutting the fibrous and large herbs, as well as adding water to the blender shortens the blending time, and helps us get a smoother sambal paste with minimal chunks.
- Keeping the skin on for the turmeric prevents excess staining of the chopping board, knife and hands. Optionally, the skin can be removed if preferred.
- Washing the dried shrimp not only removes debris but also any excess preservatives.
- I used a less salty type of shrimp paste, so I added another 1/8 tsp of salt to the sambal paste as it cooks. If you're using a salty type, the additional salt can be omitted.
- The sambal paste should be added while the cooking oil is still cool. This prevents large oil splatters when the paste is introduced to the pan as there is moisture in the paste.
- It can be kept in the fridge for no more than 2 days. Reheat in a pan (add some water if necessary) until the gravy is slightly boiling before serving.
- Freezing is not recommended as ice crystals will affect the texture of the angled beans and sambal gravy, making the dish very mushy once thawed.
- Watch the video to see how I made it exactly!
Nutrition
Calories: 228kcalCarbohydrates: 29gProtein: 9gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 3gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 1mgSodium: 206mgPotassium: 173mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 1IUVitamin C: 107mgCalcium: 135mgIron: 8mg
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