Chicken Rendang

In an attempt to introduce some Malay food to my Cambridge sister Alev from Netherlands, I made this chicken dish for the get together at Mohini's on Sunday 12/6/2011. Rendang is a typical Malay dish of poultry or beef. As in all Malay cooking there are a variety of style of preparing rendang & this depends from which state of Malaysia it originates.

In the east coast of peninsular Malaysia, the rendang tends to be sweet and spicy compared to recipies from the west coast which focuses on the spiciness, thicknees of the gravy and darker colour of the dish. However, being in Cambridge I try to cook this dish using whatever ingredients available.

This is a typical dish served during Eid in Malay households together with rice cakes (ketupat) or lemang ( glutinous rice roasted in bamboo sticks)...Hmm..Syawal is coming..will have loads of these!

Ingredients:
1 chicken chopped into bite size pieces
3 large onions chopped
3 stalks lemon grass chopped
3cm ginger chopped
2cm galangal chopped
2 pcs tumeric leaves sliced thinly
2tsp tumeric powder
2tbsp chilli paste
1 cup thick coconut milk
3tbsp cooking oil.

In a blender, add onions, ginger, galangal, chilli paste and lemongrass. Blend all the ingredients until a paste is formed. Add only enough water to allow the blender to work.
In a wok, saute the blended ingredients until aromatic. Add the meat into the wok & mix well. Do not stir too often , to allow the meat to cook. Sprinkle the tumeric powder into the wok. Mix well. Turn the flame to a medium heat.

Add 1/2 cup of water to wash down the sides of the blender jar & add this water into the wok.
Let it cook for another 10 -15minutes before adding the coconut milk to the mixture. Stir occasionally using a low flame. This is to ensure that the gravy thickens and is cooked thoroughly.

By this time, the meat is actually done but the cooking is just to thicken the gravy. Depending on choice, you can stop the cooking process if you want a light gravy base or continue cooking until it thickens. Stir ocassionally to avoid caking up at the base of the wok.

Just before you turn the flame off, scatter the sliced tumeric leaves into the wok & give it a final stir to mix it well.

Serve with warm rice, bread or lemang ;)

Pictures:
Top right corner : lemon grass
Middle picture: galangal ( do not confuse this root with ginger. Look out for the pink stalk above the bulb.
Bottom : Tumeric leaves ( lovely aroma)