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Rendang Chicken!
October 27, 2006 by
Filed under Non Vegetarian Sides
I just love most foods that originates from Malaysia, Thailand and the likes. My neighbor “K” is a malaysian and our conversations have been around food since Diwali (with me it is all the time). She had mentioned that it is their family tradition to make rendang chicken for Diwali and I could not taste as hers as I was not in town that day 
I asked K and our friend Sarah from Immigrant in Canada. They both readily gave me the recipe and it was a super hit with R. The flavors of lemon grass, galangal and fresh turmeric just bursts in your mouth. Try this recipe and you would say the same things. Thanks a ton to you Sarah and K.
Ingredients
Chicken (boneless) – 1.5lbs
Coconut milk – 1 can
Star Anise – 1
Cinnamon – small stick
Coriander powder – 1/4 tsp
Tamarind paste – 1 tsp
Kaffir lime leaves – A couple ( I did not have any and so used 2 regular lime leaves and a teaspoon of lime zest)
To make into a paste
Red Chillies – 10 to 12
Galangal – 1 inch piece thinly sliced
Fresh turmeric – 1 inch piece thinly sliced
Shallots – 4 to 5 chopped
Garlic – 2 pods
Lemon grass – 2 pieces
Method
- In a thick bottomed vessel with oil, add the star anise and cinnamon.
- Add the ground paste ( the paste should be ground with little water as possible)
- Saute this for about 5 to 7 minutes until the raw smell goes away (now you kitchen will smell fragrant with the lemon grass)
- In the meanwhile have the chicken diced into cubes.
- Add the chicken and saute until it looks a little cooked.
- Top the chicken with coriander powder and the tamarind paste ( I dilued the tamarind paste in a little water.
- Add the coconut milk ( I reserved about 1/3 of a cup)
Let this simmer on medium low. K told me let it cook on medium low for an hour atleast until the coconut milk reduces and you get a thick gravy. When she called me while I was cooking, she asked me to add a handful of ground peanuts for the texture and was kind of enough to drop some off to me as I did not have any. So I pounded a fistful and added it to the curry.
I kept stirring the curry as I browsed through blogs. Since I had some more groundnuts left I sauted them with salt and chilli powder and a little bit of oil.
I cooked the rice along with the some coconut milk, a small piece of lemon grass. The smell of rice was fragrant.
hmmm.. I can smell the lemon grass!.. Now I am going to make some after seeing the pic, I can’t resist the temptation!..
I love Malayasian too! Love this dish,photo is so clear!!I have Kari Ayam, Roti Jala and Roti Canai in my blog.I didn’t make any after that..Thanks Shankari..
looks awesome…have to try it…till then can u send me some
wow..great recipe..I love Malayasian too. Where do you get kafir lime leaves ? I didn’t find any in my neighbourhood Asian store
Thank you for visiting my blog, Shankari! I normally don’t cook chicken at home. I may try this recipe though. Thanks for sharing!
shankari,Malaysian cuisine,that’s something to try out, now you have some real magic going on at your kitchen! recipes are going deliciously international ……:)
Yum! I love chicken rendang! I used to live in Singapore & this dish was available everywhere especially in the open air hawker/food stalls.
Cheers,
Heather
Hi Shankari, thanks for visiting my blog. You have a neat blog too!
A must must try. I have never tasted this before, but being a green-red-yellow curry lover that i am, i have some galangal, lemon grass and Kaffir lime leaves in the freezer ( Yes, had to freeze it !). Thank you for the recipe.
I have never tasted this shankari , but surely would love to try it.
hmmm…the last attempt at thai did not go well for us, but the egg biryani which was linked through you came out pretty well..malay reminds us of roti chana!!!
I made this with a different recipe last week and it was yummy!
Sandeepa: Thai or Vietnamese stores often have kaffir lime leaves and they freeze well. failing that, you can grow a small tree. they do OK indoors in containers and are lovely to look at. I live in CA and mine lives outdoors in the summer and indoors in winter.
Shankari, we used to visit a Malaysian restaurant here just to eat their Roti Canai, the chicken you have is delicious, have to try it out.
My only…only..fav chicken dish is Chicken Tikka – Tandoori..though my kids and wife like all forms of chicken. Only problem is we find it tough to cure and cut chicken..not being used to it.!
I like Malaysian food..There is good Malaysian restaurant in El-Cerrito on I-80 at Central avenue Exit on the East side. Check it out one day.
Nice photo and well made recipe Shankari.! Thankyou!
any sample??
I love Malaysian food too. Used to regularly to a restaurant in CT. I should try this out sometime. Thanks for the recipe looks yummy.
now i know what to do with galangal
your chicken looks very tasty & different from the usual one.thanks for sharing.
Ooooh… looks yummy! Gotta try this one some time!
Shankari – Thanks for visiting my blog (http://full-tummy.blogspot.com) Yes I am just starting off in the blogging world
Do you mind if I add you to my blog roll?
I love Thai cooking especially with the coconut milk. I don’t eat chicken but I think all these recipes can be done with tofu
love this curry . so glad you posted a recipe for it.
Thanks for sharing this recipe. will have to try it. I am sure J would like this.
Maharani – Cook and enjoy!
Asha – Thanks
Syam – vida muyarchi, orru nallu anuparen
Sandeepa – We get it in Asian stores and when I dont find them I use the zest of a lime and use regular lime leaves
Vani – Try this & tell me what u think
Lera – I love trying new things all the time
Culinary chase – Yeah my friend mentioned that & welcome to my blog!
SRA – Thank U
Archana – Try & tell me how u liked it
Prema – Blogging from India eh? have fun and thanks for visiting
Maddy – Glad u liked the egg biriyani
Diane – Welcome to my blog!
Indosungod – I love roti canai, that is waht I am going to learn next
Narayan – Yeah same problem, R cleans and cuts the chicken for me.
KK – Sample a? Na enna baskin robbins a enna
M – Try this recipe, the galangal smells so good and I loved it
Deepa – Thanks
Alison – Welcome to my blog! U sure can blogroll me
DNA – Yes with tofu and just vegetables too
Shaheen – I am a big fan of your blog, visit everyday
Lalitha – thanks for visit with your busy schedule and take care
I am sure your recipe must be fine. I cannot try it since I am a vegetarian. But looking at it I could make out that it should have come out tasty and spicy.
chicken pathi enna eludhiradhunu theriyalai pa:-) adhaan..
Snowed under at work, kuttan innum settle agalai and extremely homesick adhu than post ellam eludha moodae illai:-(
Oh …… U have made me miss home!!! Been such a long time since I ate chicken rendang. Now I’m craving for it already.
(
May I add something to your recipe which your two friends might have forgotten? First, dry-fry in a pan two tablespoons of grated (or dessicated) coconut on medium heat till medium light brown. (Be careful not to burn it!) Add this fragrant coconut to the rendang in the final 5 minutes of cooking.
This differentiates it from other thick or dryish curries. Enjoy!