Chicken Malindo

Whether you realize it or not, the price of fish is escalating like nobody's business!  Weighed and priced before it is cleaned, one fish can cost more than a fillet of beef.  And after you clean the guts, the scales, the fins and the bones of the fish, all that work and price just don't seem worth it!  I used to love fish, in fact I still do.  But the steep price, plus my gout problem, is making seafood in general my last choice of food to put on the table!

And winning hands down, is the ever favourite alternative; chicken!  Of course, there are one thousand and one ways to prepare chicken and the versatility makes it more popular!  

Ah!  Well!  Actually, I'm rambling on trying to get to today's menu, that is Chicken Malindo!  I don't want to suggest that Malindo could have been coined from the names of two neighbouring countries here, namely Malaysia and Indonesia, because there may be other reasons behind the name.  However, the sauce or gravy tasted  somewhat similar to my Ayam Masak Merah.  Nevertheless, I was happy I gave it a try, because my daughter just loved the dish!

3 chicken thighs, cut into 9 portions

2 tomatoes, diced

15 pieces dried chili, blended to a paste

1tbs coriander, ground

1tbs cumin, ground

4 candlenut, ground

1 stalk lemon grass, bruised

1 cm cinnamon*

3 cloves*

2 cardamom*

4tbs raisins, ground

3 Spanish onions, sliced, caramelized and ground

1 'Asam Gelugor'

3tbs cooking oil

Heat oil in a wok and fry ingredients marked (*) until aromatic.  Next add the lemon grass, tomatoes and ground ingredients (except the raisins and caramelized onions).  Add the chicken pieces and 'asam gelugor',  and continue to cook for about 10 minutes.  Finally add the caramelized onions and raisins and check seasoning.  Serve hot!

P.S. The raisins and caramelized onions added a unique taste to the dish :-)