Ayam Goreng Jawa / Javanese Fried Chicken

Star Q

i.  Pre-Writing : Healthy/Unhealthy Lifestyle

ii.  Pity the Students and Teachers

iii.  Selamat Tinggal Starbright1969

This is my second weekend working in a new environment, and I felt exactly like how I felt last weekend.  I felt like I should make full use of this weekend; quality weekend with my family.  And since using my spare time with trying new recipes is how I find most enjoyable doing, so I did!

It's too bad that my second daughter had already gone back to uni because lectures start on Monday for most universities.  But that did not stop me from trying out this chicken and when the dish was simmering on the stove, my wife told me that she could smell the aroma all the way to the front yard of our house!

This is a recipe which I took from Chef Wan's Simply Sedap book.  And of course, with most of my cooking endeavours, I always did a little tweaking here and there.

• One 1 1/2 kg chicken, quartered
• 1 cup thick coconut milk, mixed with 1 cup water
• 1 golf-ball size tamarind pulp, mixed with 1 cup water
• 4 red chillies, sliced
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 thumb-size galangal, diced
• 1 thumb-size fresh turmeric, diced
• 2 stalks lemongrass, sliced
• 1 tsp coriander seeds
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 tsp black pepper corn
• 5 pieces candlenuts, chopped
• 2 tsp grated palm sugar
• 4 cups cooking oil

Place the chillies, onion, galangal, turmeric, lemongrass, coriander and cumin seeds, black peppercorn, candlenuts, grated palm sugar and the tamarind juice into a blender and blitz until smooth.  Put the chicken pieces into a large pot, pour the blended ingredients over the chicken along with the coconut milk.  Make sure that the liquid almost covers the chicken pieces.  Bring this to a boil then turn down the heat to simmer gently until chicken pieces are thoroughly cooked.

Take out the chicken pieces and set aside to allow excess moisture to drip away.  Meanwhile continue to simmer the chicken gravy until it becomes thick.  Season to taste and set aside.  Heat the oil in a wok, then fry the chicken pieces until golden brown.  

Cut the chicken pieces into manageable sizes and serve with the thick gravy alongside.