Topic started by geeta (@ ool-18be1004.dyn.optonline.net) on Thu Jan 2 09:11:17 .
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

I wondered whether anyone here could tell me whether 'sambol' is a word of Tamil, Sinhala, Indonesian or Malaysian origin?

My recent discovery of 'pol sambol' makes me whether sambol is the same as the Indonesian sambal (very likely), and if so, which way did this condiment and word travel?

A Tamil dictionary says that 'sambal' is Sri Lankan Tamil, and that it is a type of thuvaiyal.

--Geeta

Responses:

• From: Kannika Chandran (@ 216.191.85.34) on: Wed Jan 29 14:53:57
  
  Dear Geeta,
  Pol means coconut, so, Polsambal, This word came from Sinhla cooking.Srilankan's dosent use the word Thuvaiyal. We call it Sambal. To my knowledge the word sambal originated from Srilankan Tamils.
  
  
• From: SC (@ crc-cache1.jaring.my) on: Wed Jan 29 21:46:22
  
  Sambal is Malay for a very spicy contotation eaten with rice, bread, etc.
  
  Sambal is made by grinding dried chilly, onion, garlic and frying this paste in oil. Added to it are tamarind juice, salt, sugar and other condiments. Sometimes belacan is added Belacan is anchovy paste.
  
  You can then have sambal fish, sambal chicken, sambal tofu, etc.
  
  Malay traditional breakfast of nasi lemak is always eaten with sambal.
  
  
• From: Suresh Ramachandran (@ 202.184.32.217) on: Tue Feb 25 20:10:24
  
  Recently I came across the word 'sambala' being used by west africans for a similar preparation. The Malay language is mostly derived from other asian/arabian dilects and as such Geeta's question still remains unanswered.
  
  
• From: r geeta (@ ool-18be1004.dyn.optonline.net) on: Mon Apr 7 00:55:13 EDT 2003
  
  Thanks for your responses (I had given up, and just happened to look again because my curiosity was roused again). 1. As per Kannika's response, it is possible that the word came from SE Asia and was applied to thuvaiyal by SriLankan Tamils. 2. Do Lankan Tamils make sambal in the way thuvaiyals are made--ie roast urad dal+chana dal, grind and then add mashed veggies or lightly ground coconut etc? According to some Tamil cooking websites, they seem to distinguish this style from the grind with onion etc chutney-style. (my hypothesis is that in India the word sambal became chutney in modern times). 3. I found a South African site that talks about sambal http://www.chilepepper.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=viewarticle&passedID=80 4. This brings me to a more general question about how names of dishes are made up in Tamil nadu. It seems to me that the METHOD is all important; I don't know whether this is generally recognized? - thuvaiyal (thuvaippadu) - vettral (vettradu, or whatever the appropriate form is) - one could go on, but it is interesting that sambal plausibly could have a similar source. --is it saambal, sambaal, sambal or saambaal? --is it plausible that it was, indeed saambal as in powder (e.g., idli podi) --what is the verb root from saambal, ash, is derived? I'll be happy if even one of these wild hypotheses is supported--or, for that matter, refuted by someone who KNOWS some of the answers! --Geeta
  
  
• From: r geeta (@ ool-18be1004.dyn.optonline.net) on: Mon Apr 7 00:57:18 EDT 2003
  
  please excuse that badly formatted response, which lost all paragraph spaces once it appeared on the forum. Any suggestions about solving the problem? --Geeta
  
  

Want to post a response?