Fiery Chile and Shallot Relish

This relish (or sambal, as it is called in Indonesia) features an incendiary blend of shallots and red chiles. Chobek is a black lava-stone mortar and pestle traditionally used to grind the ingredients for sambals in Java. There are lots of options for chiles: red jalapeño or serrano peppers, bird peppers or tabasco peppers. I’ve given a range to suit every degree of heat tolerance (an Indonesian would use the full fifteen). You’ll need to know about one offbeat ingredi