While in Sri Lanka with Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts, I loved going down for breakfast or dinner and ordering a freshly made hopper. Hoppers aren’t served for lunch as a rule. My hopper recipe is here.
They were always made in front of me and there was always a selection of sambols and chutneys to accompany them. This red chilli sambol was one of my favourites.
I got to watch it being made on a couple of occasions. As you will see in this recipe, it isn’t difficult to make. Dried chillies are pounded with a little water into a paste. Then the rest of the ingredients are added until nicely combined.
I’m not sure if the chefs over there toasted and soaked their chillies as I did here. This is just something I’ve always done when working with dried chillies so why stop?
You could probably leave the roasting and soaking steps out without affecting the flavour too much. I used dried shrimp instead of Maldive fish as they use in Sri Lanka. Maldive fish is available at specialty shops and online but as I had some dried shrimp on hand, I used it instead.
International & UK Orders
Sri Lankan Red Chilli Sambol
Ingredients
Instructions
Disclaimer: I was a guest of Cinnamon Hotels & Resorts. If you are going to Sri Lanka, I highly recommend checking this place out!
I was flown round trip from Heathrow to Colombo courtesy or SriLankan Airlines. I couldn’t recommend this airline enough. Excellent service.