Seeni sambol facts for kids

Seeni sambol (Sinhala: සීනි සම්බෝල), also called Sini sambol or Sawi sambol, is a popular side dish from Sri Lanka. It's like a sweet and spicy onion jam or sauce. This special dish has a mix of spicy, sweet, and fragrant tastes.

People often eat Seeni sambol with rice and curries. It also goes well with idiyappam (which are like noodle pancakes) and appam (egg hoppers, a type of pancake). You can also find it inside a special bun called seeni banis, or as part of a dish called lamprais.

In the Sinhala language, 'seeni' means sweet or sugar, and 'sambol' means sauce.

What's in Seeni Sambol?

The main things that make Seeni sambol are onions, sugar, tamarind juice (which is a bit sour), red chillies, and salt. Sometimes, other tasty ingredients are added too. These can include maldive fish (dried fish), curry leaves, lemongrass, cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves. These extra ingredients give it even more flavor!

How to Make Seeni Sambol

Making Seeni sambol is a bit like cooking candy and onions together! Here's how it's traditionally done:

• First, thin slices of onion are cooked in hot vegetable oil.
• Curry leaves, lemongrass, and spices like cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves are added.
• Everything is stirred until the onions turn a lovely golden brown and become sweet (this is called caramelizing).
• Next, tamarind juice, maldive fish, sugar, and red chillies are mixed in.
• The cooking continues until all the water evaporates and the onions are very dark brown.
• Finally, salt is added to make it taste just right.
• The lemongrass and cinnamon stick are taken out.
• The sambol is left to cool down completely before it's stored in a sealed container.