Sambal goreng — Indonesia

Sambal goreng names a wide family of dishes built the same way: a ground chili-and-aromatics paste is fried in oil until fragrant, then simmered with coconut milk and a main ingredient until it thickens into a clinging, reddish sauce. This version pairs diced potato with chicken liver, one of the most common combinations served across the archipelago. It is reported across Indonesia rather than tied to one region, appearing on festive tables at Lebaran and other family gatherings alongside rice, rendang or opor, more as a side dish in a wider spread than a standalone meal. To prepare it, red chilies, shallots, garlic, galangal and candlenuts are ground into a paste and fried until the oil separates and the raw smell disappears. Diced potato is fried separately until the edges firm up, chicken liver is briefly seared, then both go into the paste with coconut milk, bay leaf and salam leaf, and simmer until the sauce thickens and clings to the pieces. What distinguishes this dish from a plain curry is the frying step at both ends — the paste fried before the liquid goes in, and the potato pre-fried rather than boiled — which keeps the potato from breaking apart and gives the finished sauce a rounder, less watery body. Cooks substitute the liver for prawns, tempeh or green beans depending on what a household keeps for this style of cooking.