This Malaysian -Indonesian chicken stew with warm spices and coconut milk
has lots of flavour. Give yourself an hour or so to prep. everything, it’s a leisurely
cook full of reward. Not essential to brown the chicken in hot oil and not traditional but
It improves the colour and flavour of the finished dish.
Serves 4
1 free range chicken, cut into 8 pieces
salt and black pepper
4/6 shallots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
thumb size piece ginger and turmeric, chopped
½ teaspoon chilli flakes
1 tablespoon palm or brown sugar
2/3 tablespoons sunflower oil
400ml can coconut milk
1 tablespoon tamarind, stone removed
juice of 2 limes
2 sticks lemon grass, crushed
1 stick cinnamon
Season the chicken well and set aside. Place the shallots, garlic, ginger, turmeric, chilli, sugar in the processor
with just a little oil and whizz to a paste, Tip the paste into a pan and fry gently for a minute or two to
caramelize the sugar. Add the coconut milk, tamarind, lime juice, lemongrass and cinnamon stick, season and
simmer for 2/3 minutes. Set the oven 180c Gas 4. Heat the remaining oil in a flameproof casserole pan
and brown the chicken pieces well. Add the sauce to the chicken, cover and cook in the preset oven for
45 minutes. Test with a probe 75c. Check the sauce, you want a nice balance of sweet, sour and hot.
Serve with jasmine or coconut rice and garnish with fresh chopped chilli and coriander.