Step forward with your left foot (count 1)
Move your right to your left foot (uh) count 2
Step backward with your right foot (count 3)
Move your left foot to your right foot (uh) count 4
Now repeat these steps to the rhythm in your head as your tastebuds recall the dance of enjoyment of the Pol Sambol (coconut sambol) you just ate. And do this same dance the next time you are about to make it or whoever is cooking tells you they are making Coconut Sambol. Don’t want to samba? Well, it is likely that you will do a jig or some sort of body movement associated with dancing when you have this spicy Sri Lankan condiment. It. Is. That. Good.
The variety of chutneys, chokas, pastes, and sambals one can make with fresh grated coconut is astounding. The simplicity of the preparations and the few ingredients combined with the coconut always yield a deliciousness that is often indescribable. You have to taste it to get it, to understand. And then it is like it becomes a part of you in a way that is comforting. You hear it is being made or think of making it yourself and there is happiness, anticipated enjoyment. You eat it and shake your head. How is this chutney, choka, sambol so good?
I love everything coconut and everything about coconuts. I have even written a column titled – I am Nuts for Coconuts. Some friends had a field day with that one. I always have fresh grated coconuts in the freezer and just to explain the nutty side of me, all the coconut is not grated the same. Using the different sides of a box grater, I have four different sizes and shapes of grated coconut. Using the sit-down or what we call the Indian grater, offers another texture to the grated coconut and then there is the coconut grater that you clamp and screw on to a surface and you grate the coconut by rotating the handle and turning the scraper at the end – think hand mill. That grater offers yet another texture variety of grated coconut. Wait. I am not done. There’s grated coconut where the brown skin has been removed to give me an all-white-flesh grated coconut. Some things aesthetically necessitate that the coconut be that way. But it is not all about looks, removing the brown skin for some preparations is about texture, making the final dish moist and in some cases, fluffy. The Coconut Sambol recipe I am sharing with you today is one of those dishes that requires the brown skin of the coconut be removed.
There are many ingredients we use regularly, like weekly, that we are always seeking new ways to prepare, different techniques to employ, combinations with other ingredients, spices, herbs, and pastes with which to use them. And then there is the love for certain ingredients or dishes that whenever you come across a variation or different approach, you are bound to try it. I am that way with bread, roti(s) and other types of flat breads, okra, karaila, curry, green plantains and yes, coconuts. In most cases it is for the experience of making it and simply tasting, for others it is about eating. With coconut, it is about eating.
Last week, a friend brought me a couple of dry coconuts. Excitement. You might say I need to get out more, and while that may be true, the pandemic we are in says otherwise. I grated one of the coconuts and packed it away in the freezer, and then went in search of something to make with the other one. I did not have to look too far; in one of my feeds someone posted a dish they described as comfort food, Pol Sambol (Coconut Sambol).
Pol Sambol is a spicy coconut condiment made with (coconut of course), hot peppers, usually in the form of flakes and sometimes chili powder is added for extra heat, Maldive fish, onions, and lime/lemon juice. Maldive fish is a smoke-cured tuna that is sold in chips or flakes. The fresh grated coconut and ingredients are ground together with a lorha and sil or in a stone mortar with pestle. Apart from the ingredients, it is the use of these equipment to prepare the sambol that gives it that special taste and texture. It all comes down to how the ingredients are broken down and mixed together between the stones.
According to a Sri Lankan food expert, Niza, Pol Sambol is used as a garnish or as side dish for a number of staples including rice and curry, pol roti (coconut roti), paratha or string hoppers (a type of steamed rice/millet flour noodles), or Appam (a bowl-shaped pancake composed of fermented rice or rice flour and coconut milk). It is a popular breakfast item.
By the way, you know I am going to try making that Coconut Roti, right? Watch this space.
I gathered all the ingredients to make the Coconut Sambol and used some local Guyanese smoked fish since I don’t have access to Maldive smoked fish. Actually, I think any type of smoked fish would work and you can also use our local dried shrimp. Even a piece of salt fish. The addition of the smoked fish adds umami to the sambol with that slight smokey flavour. Simply outstanding. When I tasted the sambol just after I finished making it, I shook my head in amazement. No heated cooking took place, very simple everyday ingredients (the smoked fish can be skipped for those who are vegetarian or vegan), ground together to create a dish so versatile, it can be eaten many ways and with lots of things. I ate mine one day with plain Bajan rice and peas. One morning, I toasted bread, spread a little butter, and then topped it with the sambol, so, so good! Fry some bakes, cut while still very warm and stuff with some of the sambol for an amazing sandwich. You do not need dhal and or curry to eat this sambol. Eat it with anything you have cooked that day. I folded some of it into scrambled eggs the other morning. You know what, this sambol is one of those things that you can use as a finisher for a dish – fold some in just as you are done cooking or generously sprinkle it over the food.
Give it a try. You will like this.
Cynthia
Pol Sambol (Coconut Sambol)
SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: Lorha and Sil/Mortar and Pestle
INGREDIENTS
• Red hot peppers (use based on heat you can handle)
• 2 cups fresh grated coconut (see notes below)
• ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• ½ teaspoon sugar
• A few pieces smoked-cured fish (see notes below)
• ½ cup finely minced red onions
• Fresh lime/lemon juice
DIRECTIONS
1. Grind together the peppers, salt, and sugar to a paste.
2. Add the fish, pound, and grind with the pepper mixture.
3. Add coconut and grind to mix well; the coconut should have the colour of the paste.
4. Add the onions and gently mix; don’t grind too much as you want the texture of the onions to be present in the sambol.
5. Add lime/lemon juice to the sambol and mix well. Taste, and if needed, add salt and more lime/lemon juice to taste. It should be spicy (hot), salty, a hint of sweetness with a subtle tang.
6. Serve at room temperature.
NOTES
• Remove the brown skin of the coconut to give the sambol its signature look; this also enables the sambol to stay moist with the natural milk of the flesh. Removing the skin also ensures the sambol is soft and light.
• Only use fresh coconut for this sambol, desiccated or shredded coconut would be too dry, even if you moisten the dried coconut.
• For the smoked fish, you can rehydrate it to soften it before adding or simply grate the dried fish to give you flakes/shreds. If using dried shrimp, rinse and pat dry before using.
• Be mindful if using the dried/smoked fish that it will be salty and you might not need to add more at the end.
• I would recommend mixing in the onions, rather than grinding them a little; hence making a fine mince.
• The sambol can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for a week. Bring it to room temperature before serving. However, if using it to finish a dish, add it directly and the residual heat from the dish will warm it through.
