Sambal is an Indonesian relish served usually as a side dish. It's a chili-based condiment enjoyed by us Tausugs as an appetizer often paired with sliced cucumber. 

Ingredients used:

8 pieces red tomatoes in medium size (the kind that's red and really firm).

1 heaping tablespoon of freshly ground dried red chili. 

3 pieces of small onions, finely chopped

1 head of garlic, chopped (I like this chopped so finely that I can taste it and not feel it in my mouth)

1/4 cup of peanut butter

1/3-1/2 cup of coconut milk powder (undiluted)

salt

sugar

NOTE: The taste is totally up to you. It can be as hot or as salty, as nutty or as creamy as you want.

STEPS:

1. Boil the tomatoes over medium heat until you start to see the skin peel off.

 Once skins peel off, they are soft enough to be chopped easily.

2. Remove from heat, and cut in really small pieces until you have a soft mushy texture. 

 3. Heat enough oil to saute garlic, onion and tomatoes. Then add seasonings.

 It doesn't matter which one you add first, as long as you can handle the amount that you use. I may have added a little too much chili powder here, used up all that I have ground. Wrong move.

Remember to sprinkle a little at a time and add more as tolerated. Mix everything well so flavor is distributed evenly.

 4. Now add the coconut milk powder and 1-2 tablespoons of sugar.

Tausugs may have a high tolerance for spicy food but we are also Filipinos :-). Adding that much sugar doesn't make it sweet. It just gives balance between the penetrating power of chili and the biting taste of salt.

 6. Lastly, add the peanut butter. When well blended, your Sambal will have a rich orange color and will thicken even more. Lumps of tomatoes and onions will appear.

 Remove from heat before it gets too thick. Once it has cooled down a bit, it should look like this:

Personally I like to pair it with flat bread like the one you see below. It if had not been too hot for my taste, it would have been perfect. It contains coconut milk and tomatoes, so it spoils when left in a warm environment. Refrigerate leftover Sambal and enjoy before two weeks pass.