Bumbu — strictly basa gede, the "big seasoning" — is the spice paste underneath nearly everything good in Balinese cooking: betutu, sate lilit, the broth your nasi campur secretly owes its soul to. Every family grinds it differently and every family is right. This is the version I teach in our cooking classes, scaled for a home kitchen and honest about where you will probably go wrong.
Ingredients (makes one generous jar)
- 10 shallots — IDR 8,000–10,000 for more than you need
- 6 cloves garlic — IDR 5,000
- 5 cm fresh galangal (laos) — IDR 5,000; do not substitute ginger, it is a different planet
- 5 cm fresh turmeric — IDR 5,000; wear an apron you don't love
- 4 cm fresh ginger — IDR 4,000
- 3 candlenuts (kemiri) — IDR 5,000; macadamias are the least-bad substitute abroad
- 5–10 red chillies, your call on the mix of large mild and small violent — IDR 10,000
- 2 stalks lemongrass, tender hearts only — IDR 5,000
- 1 tsp coriander seeds, ½ tsp black peppercorns — IDR 5,000
- 1 tsp shrimp paste (terasi), toasted in foil — IDR 3,000 (omit for a vegan paste; add ½ tsp salt)
- Coconut oil for frying — you have this
Total at a Bali morning market: roughly IDR 55,000–60,000, with leftovers. Our market guide shows where to buy each of these without the tourist markup.
Step by Step
Prep everything first
Peel and roughly chop all the roots, shallots and garlic. Toast the coriander seeds and candlenuts in a dry pan for two minutes until they smell like a decision. Toast the terasi in a foil parcel — your kitchen will smell aggressive for ten minutes; this is correct.
Grind to a paste
Stone mortar if you have the arms (twenty minutes, hardest things first: candlenuts, then roots, then everything else), food processor if you have a Tuesday. Add a spoon of water if it won't move, but the paste should be thick, not a smoothie.
Fry the paste — the step that makes it bumbu
Heat 4–5 tablespoons of coconut oil over medium-low heat and fry the paste, stirring almost constantly, for 10–15 minutes. It will sputter, darken from shouting orange to deep brick, and the raw-onion smell will become something round and sweet. It is done when the oil separates back out at the edges and the paste pulls into itself.
Cool and store
Into a clean jar, film of oil on top. Two weeks in the fridge, three months frozen in tablespoon-sized lumps — the home cook's smartest move.
The Two Mistakes That Ruin Most First Attempts
Mistake one: frying too hot, too briefly. Almost everyone scorches the outside of the paste in three loud minutes and serves the inside raw — you get bitterness on top of harshness, and the dish never recovers. The fry is a patience exercise: medium-low, keep stirring, wait for the oil to separate. If you have black flecks in minute four, start over; the ingredients cost less than the dinner they would ruin.
Mistake two: proportions by fear. First-timers halve the galangal and turmeric because the amounts look alarming, and produce a generic curry paste that could be from anywhere. The roots ARE the flavour of Bali — cut the chilli if you must, never the galangal. Trust the ratio once before you edit it.
What to Cook With It
Rub it under chicken skin with lime leaves and roast slowly for a lazy betutu. Mix a tablespoon into minced fish with grated coconut for sate lilit. Fry a spoonful, crack in eggs, and breakfast is suddenly interesting. A jar in the fridge makes you dangerous.
When It's Easier to Call a Chef
Making bumbu once is a great afternoon. Making it while also grilling fish, steaming rice, plating for eight and keeping drinks cold is a job — mine, specifically. If the paste defeats you, or you want to taste the benchmark before attempting it, a private dinner with a full Balinese menu is the shortcut, and the class version of this recipe comes with a chef correcting your fry in real time. Stuck mid-recipe or planning a menu around your jar? Message us on WhatsApp — menu consultations are free, and we answer bumbu emergencies with unreasonable enthusiasm.