A Malay style sambal. Fresh chilis are pounded together with toasted shrimp paste (belacan) in a stone mortar (lesung batu) to which sugar and lime juice are added. Originally, limau kasturi or calamansi lime, is used but since this is scarce outside of Southeast Asia, normal lime is used as a replacement.
Tomatoes are optional ingredients. Sometimes, sweet sour mangoes or equivalent local fruits are also used. It can be eaten with cucumbers or ulam (leafy herbs) in a meal of rice and other dishes. A Malaysian-Chinese version is to fry belacan with chili.
