Seeni Sambol

Seeni sambol is a sweet, tangy and spicy onion relish associated with Sri Lanka. Roshani Wickramasinghe’s selected recipe slowly cooks yellow onions with coconut oil, tamarind, sugar, chillies and aromatic whole spices until soft and jammy.

Seedless tamarind is soaked in separate warm water and squeezed into a thick pulp, discarding any seeds and skin as instructed. Yellow onions are thinly sliced and mixed with chilli flakes, chilli powder and turmeric powder.

Coconut oil heats the cinnamon pieces, cardamom pods and whole cloves, followed by curry leaves and broken pandan leaf. The same seasoned onions are added and sautéed until wilted.

Salt joins the partly cooked onions, which cook until the moisture in the pan has evaporated, with stirring from time to time. The same tamarind pulp is then mixed through and the onions cook uncovered on medium-low heat until jammy and partly caramelised.

Sugar is added toward the end, and the same tamarind, sugar and salt adjust the sweet-sour balance. Cooking continues until the onions are darker and jammy; the whole spices and pandan are discarded before serving with the selected ready bread.