Sambal Tumis Ikan Bilis

This is a great dish ( because it's hot!) to have with plain rice or nasi lemak ( the national favourite dish of Malaysia) which is rice cooked in coconut milk.

What you need:

Chilli paste (10 dried chillies soaked in hot water for 10 minutes & later processed into a paste in a blender or food processor)
2 large onions ( turned into paste in food processor but separate from the chilli)
Dried anchovies
Tamarind juice (2 to 3 tbsps)..Tamarind paste is sold in most Asian stores. Simply add hot water to the paste & remove the seeds. The pulp will mix in the water to give the sourness of taste.
Sugar & Salt
Cooking oil

What you must do:

Fry the onion paste in 3tbsps of oil until its fragrant.
Add the chilli paste (adjust the amount based on how hot you want it to be..)
Cook until the mixture looks dry, chilli looks cooked & oil begin to separate away from the mixture. ( about 10 -15 minutes)
Add tamarind juice, salt & sugar. Again adjust the amount of these 3 items to your preference. (hint: they should be balanced in taste!)
Lastly add the anchovies and cook for a further 20 minutes and serve with warm rice with sliced cucumber which will counter the "hotness" if you have gone overboard with the chillies!

Enjoy!