You can buy Surinamese peanut sambal (just like Indonesian peanut sambal) at the store. You then buy a block that contains all the dry ingredients. You only have to dilute it with water or milk. Nice and easy, but it is of course much more fun to make the peanut sauce yourself. In this recipe I'll show you how!

Baka bana with peanut sambal

This peanut sambal is the perfect sauce for your baka bana . The combination of the sweet plantain (including the sweet, fried coating) and this peanut sambal is truly heavenly.

For the Dutch, the combination might take some getting used to, as it is truly quite different from how they eat their 'pisang goreng ' in Indonesia. We have known *that* dish in the Netherlands for a long time. But believe me… once you have tasted the combination of fried plantain and peanut sauce, you will never want anything else.

This recipe makes one large portion of peanut sambal. You can eat it immediately or store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Of course you can also choose to dry fry the ingredients and make your own 'block' of peanut sambal. In that case it has a longer shelf life, even at room temperature.

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves garlic
• 5 cm of ginger root
• 5 cm kentjoer (laos)
• 1 stalk of lemongrass
• 1 mme Jeanette/Adjuma pepper
• 1 shallot
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil, for frying
• 250 g peanuts (or use peanut butter)
• 3 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp tamarind paste

Preparation of Surinamese peanut sambal

Cut the garlic, ginger, kenchur, lemongrass, hot pepper and shallot into pieces and then grind them finely in a food processor or chopper.

Heat the oil over medium heat and fry the spices for a few minutes. In the meantime, also grind the peanuts finely and then put them in the pan. You can also use peanut butter, preferably from 100% peanuts.

Now add about 250 ml of water until your sauce has the desired thickness.

Finish the sauce with the brown sugar, soy sauce, and tamarind paste. Serve it warm, for example over your baka bana or with rice or noodles . Enjoy your meal!

Prefer a video?

Watch how I make the Surinamese peanut sambal in one minute in the video below: