Pol Sambolaya

Pol Sambolaya

Coconut relish
Coconut palms grow in abundance on the island, and the fruits find their way into just about every meal in some form. Pol Sambol (like all sambols) is a versatile, vivid relish, given an intense hit of flavour from Maldive fish: smoked, sun-dried tuna, flaked and used sparingly.

• 1 small onion, roughly chopped
• 1 garlic clove, halved
• 1 medium tomato, cut into quarters
• 5 black peppercorns
• 1 green chilli, deseeded
• 3/4 tsp chilli powder
• 5 fresh curry leaves
• 200g (7oz/21/2 cups) freshly grated or desiccated (shredded) coconut
• 1 tsp Maldive fish, crushed (optional)
• juice of 1/2 lime
• salt
  

1. Place the onion, garlic, tomato, black peppercorns, green chilli, chilli powder and curry leaves in a food processor and blitz until you have a fine paste.
2. Place the paste in a medium bowl and add the coconut, Maldive fish (if using) and mix well by hand. Then add the lime juice and salt to taste, mixing well. A few crushed curry leaves can be used as a garnish.