Ayam Masak Rendang ( Chicken in Coconut Milk)

Rendang is an Indonesian dish originated from the Minangkabau, one of the etnic group in Indonesia and one of the characteristics food of this culture, it is served at ceremonial occassions and to honour guests. This particular dish is also popular in Singapore and Malaysia and its traditionally prepared by the Malay community during festive occasions. Usually rendang is made from beef but this dish can be prepared with chicken or mutton or even vegie.

Ingredients

* 1.3kg chicken

* 3 lemongrass (bruised)

Spice A ( Pound/blend)

* 15 shallots

* 15 cloves garlic

* 3 inch galangal

* 3 inch ginger

* 9 stalks lemongrass

* 30 dried chillies

Spice B

* 9 cloves

* 9 star anise

* 9 cardamon seeds

Spice C

* 3 cups thick coconut milk

* 3 cups water

* 3 tsp tamarind puree

Spice D

* 18 kaffir lime leaves

* 18 tbsp grated coconut

* 3 tbsp palm sugar

* Salt to taste

Method:

1) Dry fry the grated coconut until it turns golden brown and set aside.

2) Add some oil and stir fry Spice A and Spice B together until fragrant

3) Then add chopped chicken pieces and bruised lemongrass and saute

4) Next, add Spice C and let it simmer , stir occassionally.

5) Add spice D and reduce the heat to low and simmer. Preferably cover your pot/wok. Cooking will take approximately 2hrs for the gravy to dry up.

Note:

You can also add in some turmeric leaves, bay leaves and fresh turmeric. I omitted all of it. Its all up to your preferences. You can also include candlenuts as well.

Do chop your kaffir lime leaves finely when you add in to the wok together with your grated coconut.

The dry fried grated coconut produces oil as well , so its best to sieve the oil from time to time, like how i did it to reduce the amount of oil in the rendang.

This dish is best served with white steamed rice, ketupat or even lemang.