Sambal bajak

Step 1: Blitz 5 ½ oz large red chillies, 8 red bird's-eye chillies, 4 oz shallots, 6 cloves garlic, 4 candlenuts and 1 tomato in a food processor to a coarse, wet paste, scraping down the sides twice. It should look like rough salsa, not a smooth purée.

Step 2: Heat ½ cup vegetable oil in a wok or wide pan over a medium heat. Add the paste carefully, as it spits, along with 1 ⅛ in galangal, 2 salam leaves (Indonesian bay leaves) and 3 kaffir lime leaves.

Step 3: Fry, stirring every minute or so, until the paste darkens from bright scarlet to brick red and the raw shallot smell has gone. Lower the heat to medium-low if it starts catching on the bottom.

Step 4: Stir in 1 tbsp salted fermented soybean paste (tauco), 1 ⅜ oz palm sugar, 1 tbsp tamarind paste and 1 tsp salt. Keep frying, stirring more often now the sugar is in, until the sambal is thick and jammy and a clear layer of red oil pools at the edges.

Step 5: Taste: it should be sweet first, then salty-sour, with a slow burn. Adjust with more salt or tamarind, then fish out the galangal and leaves.

Step 6: Cool completely, spoon into a clean jar and pour the pan oil over the top so the sambal is sealed. Keep it in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, always using a clean spoon.