This is delicious as a dipping sauce for chicken or prawn barbecue satays. It can also be used as a base for a Thai curry - use a couple of tablespoons per serving and dilute with some hot water.
1 - 2 large fresh red chillies
4 tbsp olive or groundnut oil
2 large shallots or 1 onion, roughly chopped
3 fat cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2cm cube fresh ginger, roughly chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp soft brown sugar
1 tbsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla) or soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
4-5 tbsp coarse peanut butter
Slit open the chillies and discard the seeds and stalks. Roughly
chop the flesh.
Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the chillies with the shallots or
onion, garlic and ginger for about five minutes until
softened.
Add spices, sugar, fish sauce or soy and 200ml (7fl oz)
water.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from heat
Stir in lime juice and grind to a smooth paste with the Dualit hand
blender.
Stir in the peanut butter and heat until smooth and then dilute
with 100ml (3½ fl oz) more water.
When cool, scoop into a lidded jar. The sauce can be stored in the
fridge for up to ten days.