Chewy Balls In Peanut Sauce (Cilok) - A Traditional Snack From Bandung - West Java, Indonesia

I never know about this snack til a few years ago when I visited Bandung - recommended by my sis whom lived there at that time, it's a savoury tasty chewy balls eaten with peanut sauce - mostly sold by street vendors

Why the name is Cilok?
CILOK stands for aCI dicoLOK
Aci means sago flour in Sundanese language (native in West Java) - sago flour is the main ingredient used
Dicolok means poked - cos how the people eat these balls is by poking it with skewer (like satay skewer)

I saw this made by some LBT members, made me having that instant craving :)

It's actually very similar to glutinuous rice balls with sweet fillings sold here in supermarket, but this is the savoury version without any filling, but instead dip into peanut sauce before you eat it...

Thanks to Ricke - the recipe is a comfort to those Indonesians living far away from hometown :)

What you need:

200g sago flour (or tapioca flour)
200g all purpose flour
2 cloves of garlic - crushed til smooth
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chicken stock powder
1/4 tsp white pepper
2 stalks of spring onion (cut - use only the green part)
400ml water

enough water to boil the balls

Mix and sieve sago and all purpose flour - add in spring onion, set aside
Heat water on medium fire, add in salt, chicken stock powder and pepper - bring to boil, off heat
Add in the chicken stock (still hot) to the flour mixture - mix with wooden spoon
Keep kneading with spoon til elastic and can be shaped into balls (if still too dry can add a little more water OR while pouring the stock you feel it's elastic enough, no need to finish the stock)
Boil a pot of water
Shape the dough into balls and put in the boiling water
Leave them inside the pot til all floating - after all floating, leave it to simmer for 15minutes
Drain the water, arrange in steaming plate, steam for approximately 20minutes on high heat

How to make the peanut sauce:

What you need:
(this recipe is from my mum)

75g ground fried peanut
5 candlenuts - fry without oil til a little golden brown (not too brown cos it'll be bitter)
1 large red chilli
1 tbsp vinegar
200ml warm water, salt, sugar, sweet dark soya sauce (kecap manis)

Blend til smooth ground peanut, candlenuts and chilli - put in a pot
Add in the rest of the ingredients and cook over low heat til boiling
Add in a little sweet dark soya sauce and stir while simmering til thicken

Ricke's recipe for the peanut sauce is just as nice:

What you need:

250g ground fried peanut
2 large red chillies
3 cloves of garlic - cut
2 lime leaves - torn
1/2 tbsp salt
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp lime juice (from large lime)
500ml water

Blend chillies and garlic til smooth
Heat a little oil on frying pan, stir fry garlic, chillies, lime leaves til fragrant, add in water - mix well
Add in ground peanut, followed by salt and sugar, mix well
Bring to boil and stir continuously - it will be thickened
Add in lime juice, mix well - off heat

Note about this cilok:

***Original recipe - they don't use plain flour, instead they use all sago flour, I tried before, the balls turned out so chewy that after eating a few, my jaw hurts *grin*

***Besides peanut sauce, normal bottled chilli sauce is already nice! :)
***More modern version of this cilok comes with filling too - from cheese, chicken, fish or egg
Yet to try but sounds worth trying! :)