Recipe: Surinamese telo with peanut sambal
Are you also a fan of Surinamese cuisine but never get much further than roti and pom? Then the new cookbook Paramaribo by Judith Cyrus is highly recommended! In this colorful and informative book, Judith shows you how the diversity of Suriname’s population has created a varied cuisine. She does so through well-known dishes such as saoto soup, as well as lesser-known dishes from Suriname, such as gritbâna with tomtom (grated banana soup), sopropo (a bitter fruit in vinegar) and hêrhêri (salted fish with root vegetables). One dish you’ll definitely lick your fingers clean over is telo with peanut sambal—trust me!
Judith: “Telo is fries made from the root of the yucca plant: cassava. More and more supermarkets stock cassava among the tropical vegetables. If you buy cassava at an Asian or Caribbean grocery store, it is normal for the cassava to be broken open for you, so you can see whether the root is fresh. The inside of the cassava should be white and not dry. If you buy cassava at a supermarket, break it open yourself. If this doesn’t work, ask an employee to make a small cut in it so you can break it more easily. After all, you don’t want to get home and discover that you can’t make telo—or have to go back to the store.”
How to make the telo
- Cassava has a brown skin with a pink layer underneath. Cut or peel the brown skin and pink layer off the cassava, leaving the white root. Wash the cassava and cut it into pieces about the length of a finger and slightly thicker than a Flemish fry.
- Boil the cassava fries in water for about 12 minutes, until tender but still firm, and let them cool thoroughly.
- Heat the oil in a wok or deep pan. The oil is at the right temperature when a piece of bread dropped into it sizzles and turns brown immediately. Fry the telo until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Then place them in a colander and sprinkle with some salt (flakes).
How to make the peanut sambal
- Heat the oil in a pan and fry the garlic cloves and chilies until lightly browned. Grind them finely in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle, and place in a bowl.
- Fry the peanuts in the same oil. Make sure they don’t become too dark, or they will taste burnt. Coarsely grind the peanuts in a food processor or with a mortar and pestle. Add them to the garlic-chili mixture.
- Add galangal powder and tamarind paste, and grate in palm sugar to taste using a fine grater. Add a little salt to bring out the sweetness; the tamarind paste may make the mixture somewhat more sour. Mix everything together, and the peanut sambal is almost ready to use!
Title: Paramaribo
Author: Judith Cyrus
Price: €34.99
Publisher: Fontaine
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