Spicy Peanut Sauce with Tamarind and Herbs Recipe
This rich and flavorful peanut sauce features a blend of dry roasted peanuts, fragrant spices, tamarind, and sweet palm sugar, perfect as a dipping sauce or accompaniment to various Asian dishes. The sauce is cooked gently on the stovetop until the oil separates, resulting in a smooth, aromatic, and slightly textured sauce with a perfect balance of sweet, sour, and spicy notes.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: About 300ml of peanut sauce 1x
- Category: Sauce
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Southeast Asian
Ingredients
Scale
Peanut Sauce
- 150g dry roasted peanuts
- 50ml vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp tamarind concentrate or paste
- 3 tbsp gula melaka palm sugar (or dark brown soft sugar)
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tbsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce)
- 8 dried red chillies, soaked in warm water for 20 minutes, drained, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 4 shallots, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 lemongrass stalk, trimmed and roughly chopped
- 1.5cm piece of galangal, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 200ml water (for cooking)
Instructions
- Prepare Peanuts: Place the dry roasted peanuts in a food processor and blitz until they are finely chopped but still retain a bit of texture. Transfer the chopped peanuts to a bowl and clean out the processor for the next step.
- Make Spice Paste: Add the soaked and prepared dried red chillies, garlic, shallots, lemongrass, galangal, and tamarind concentrate into the food processor. Blitz until a smooth paste forms, adding a few tablespoons of water if necessary to help blend everything evenly.
- Cook the Sauce: Heat the vegetable oil in a non-stick saucepan over medium heat. Fry the spice paste gently until fragrant, which should take a few minutes. Then add the ground peanuts, tamarind concentrate, gula melaka palm sugar, 1 teaspoon of salt, ground coriander, kecap manis, and 200ml water. Stir to combine well.
- Simmer and Finish: Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the mixture for 15 minutes, stirring continuously to prevent sticking. Continue until the oil separates from the sauce, indicating it’s cooked perfectly.
- Cool and Store: Remove the saucepan from heat and allow the sauce to cool completely at room temperature. Once cooled, transfer the sauce to a sterilized jar or airtight container. Store in the refrigerator where it will keep for up to two weeks.
Notes
- Soaking and deseeding the dried red chillies reduces the heat slightly while keeping the chili flavor robust.
- If the sauce is too thick after cooking, you can thin it with a little warm water to achieve the desired consistency.
- This peanut sauce pairs beautifully with grilled meats, satay, rice dishes, or as a dip for fresh vegetables.
- Use gula melaka (palm sugar) for authentic sweetness, but dark brown soft sugar is a good substitute.
- Ensure to stir continuously while cooking to prevent burning and to help the oil separate properly for the perfect texture.
Keywords: peanut sauce, Southeast Asian sauce, tamarind peanut sauce, spicy peanut dip, homemade peanut sauce, gula melaka sauce
