Instructions: Tauco is salted yellow beans; you can buy them in Britain at Chinese grocery shops, in cans. Sambal Tauco is another hot relish that keeps for a long time. You can make it less hot by using less chilli.

Crush the garlic and the yellow beans together, either pounding them in a mortar or by means of a liquidizer. Seed the green chillis and slice them finely. Slice the shallots or onion. If you are using root ginger, peel and chop it into very small sticks. Heat the oil and saute the shallots for 1 minute. Add the chillis and ginger and saute for another minute; then put in the tauco and garlic paste, sugar, tamarind water and the water. Stir, then simmer for about 8 minutes. Stir again, still cooking, for 1 minute.

Serve hot, or allow the sambal to cool before storing it in an airtight jar.

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