Malaysian Satay Peanut Sauce

Typically, peanut sauce served with satay which is cubed meat marinated with spice mix and grill to perfection. Satay dipped into a thick sweet and spicy sauce made of peanut as a basic ingredient. In Asia, Thai,Vietnam and Indonesia have their own satay peanut sauce and they are different from our Malaysian version. Malaysian peanut sauce is thicker,sweeter and richly infused with spices. Kajang in Malaysia are known for serving the best satay and delicious peanut sauce to go with it.

The use of lemongrass in this peanut sauce gives an authentic fresh taste to the rich sauce. The sauce is well balanced with sweet and spicy ingredients. Make in large batches,store in an airtight container and it stays well up to 1 month in refrigerator. When i make mine, i always store one or two container which comes handy as a dipping sauce for chicken nuggets,compressed rice cake or any fried stuffs. Goes well as dipping for spring rolls and samosas too. After all, this is the taste of Malaysia that i grew up with


Ingredients


1  cup raw peanuts
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup water
1 tbsp tamarind pulp, dissolved in 1/2 cup warm water and sieved. Discard the seeds
3 tbsp oil
4 stalks lemongrass, bruised
1 tbsp sugar
2 inches galangal
1 tbsp palm sugar/brown sugar

To Blend

1 cups dried chillies
2 medium red onions
2 inches ginger
6 cloves garlic
1/3 cup water


Methods

In a frying pan, dry roast the peanuts for over a medium fire for 10-15 minutes. Be careful not to burn the peanuts. Remove from fire and let the peanuts to cool before removing the skin. Grind the peanut coarsely and keep aside

Soak the dried chillies in hot water for 30 minutes. In a mixer, blend together soaked dried chillies,onion,ginger and garlic to a smooth paste by adding 1/3 cup water

In a heavy bottom pot over a medium flame, heat oil and saute the blended ingredients till fragrant approximately for 5-6 minutes.

Add the lemongrass,galangal and stir. Add the coconut milk,sugar,tamarind juice,palm sugar and salt. Stir well to combined

Once the mixture begins to boil, add the roasted peanut and give a good stir. Reduce flame to low heat and let the sauce cook for 10 minutes. Kill the fire

Serve the sauce with satay or any grilled meat


Notes

To remove the peanuts skin, just roughly squeeze or crush the peanuts with your hands. The skin will peel off easily.