The Startup Cook – Parsley Sambol 

When it comes to pasta, be it a white or red sauce, parsley is fundamental. It is as vital as the pasta itself. In fact perish the thought of parsley-less pasta!

Declarations of loyalty aside, one particularly annoying thing that occurs is that there is always a certain amount parsely that remains unused. Now, I am one of those people, who HATE wasting food, even if it’s a few grams of extra parsley. Hence to remedy the situation, I make this recipe whenever there is some left over parsley.

It does seem to be a bit of an unusual dish, but it’s a convenient make, and complements your Sri Lankan style lunch perfectly.

Ingredients 

75g of parsley
7 spring onions
1 tbs of Maldive fish
2 tsp of chilli flakes
1 clove of garlic
1 tsp of lime juice
½ tsp of salt
½ tsp of pepper
½ tsp of oil

Directions 

Wash and fine dice the spring onions and garlic and set it aside.

Wash and roughly chop up the parsley.

Add the oil in to pan and place the pan on a low flame.

Fry the garlic in the pan.

Add the chilli flakes, chopped spring onions, maldive fish and sauté.

Turn off the heat, add the parsley to the spring onion sauté, add the salt and pepper and mix gently.

Transfer the sambol in to a serving dish.

Pour the lime juice over the sambol and give it a final stir.

Serve with rice and curry.

Disasters, Warnings and Tips 

Do not use anything more than a half teaspoon of oil.

Spring onions provide for super flavour, try not to substitute it.

Feel free to not sauté, just stir everything together (except for the garlic and oil) with a little extra lime juice and serve.

I have declared my love for parsley on Instagram. I am happening like that.

Sautéing provides for an extra crunch.

The Maldive fish in our house is rock hard, it can crack a tooth.

Is it weird that I eat this sambol plain?

Serve this with some plain Basmathi. Delish!

By Shazzana Hamid