Eggs in chilli sauce (Sambal telur)

This dish is not for the faint of heart. Very spicy and bold, it will make your lips tingle and set your tongue on fire. It is perfect as an appetizer with a glass of cold beer.

I have recently been making a few recipes with spiced eggs, such as Eggs in spicy masala - Mappila-style, and I have discovered that I love the combination of hard-boiled eggs and spicy sauces. The creamy yolks pair beautifully with the sauces, and the soft whites are perfect. Here is another wonderful recipe.

As I mentioned, this recipe is bold but beautiful. The chillies add a bang of spice that lasts on your palate. This is perfect as hors d’oeuvres with a cold glass of beer to cool your mouth down.

This is a thin volume of recipes from Singapore. The recipes are the perfect image of the city with flavours from the Malay, Chinese and Indian communities. The recipes always turn out authentic, and the flavours pop, like this dish.

For more recipes from this cookbook, click here. 

Ingredients:

6 hard-boiled eggs

1 tablespoon oil

2 tablespoons oil

10 dried red chillies soaked in water. I used Kashmiri chilies, but you can use any spicy chili of your choice

2-3 fresh Thai red chillies

8 shallots, sliced

1/2 teaspoon shrimp paste (leave out for vegan and vegetarian version)

1 clove garlic

Salt, to taste

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon tamarind extract

4-5 tablespoons water

Fry the hard-boiled eggs in oil for a couple of minutes, rolling them around the pan so they get evenly browned all over. Remove and cool.

Add all the dry and fresh chillies, shallots, shrimp paste, garlic, salt, and sugar to a small blender. Add the water and blend to a smooth purée. You need just about enough water to get the paste moving in the blender; do not make it too runny.

Add the oil to a small pot and add the chilli purée. Fry on a low flame until the paste thickens and the oils come to the surface in small bubbles. Taste, be careful—it will be very spicy—and adjust salt and sourness.

Cut the eggs if desired. I like to cut them on a diagonal. Layer the chilli sauce on the bottom of a plate or bowl, then the eggs on top. I like to alternate the eggs, one of them fried side up and the other cut side up, for a great visual display. Serve at room temperature.