It uses the same cooking principal as the famous Indonesian Ayam Kalasan (Kalasan Fried Chicken) which is to boil the chicken pieces in coconut milk & spices and then deep-fry them. However, this recipe calls for slightly different ingredients and cooking steps.
Bill Granger summarised all the goodness of this dish in one simple paragraph which I think it's brilliant: "This recipe is a tribute to tales I've heard of Balinese chicken dishes. Frying can easily result in dry chicken meat but, in this case, the coconut milk keeps it moist and juicy. Delicious cold, it makes great picnic food."
Balinese Spicy Fried Chicken (Serves 4)
(Adapted from Bill Granger's Bills Sydney Food)
Ingredients
- 1 cup (8 fl oz) coconut milk
- 3 kaffir lime leaves, or zest of 1 lime
- 2 Asian red shallots, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 1 x 2 cm (3/4 in) piece galangal (or ginger) root, sliced
- 3 green chillies, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 x 1.5 kg (3 lb) chicken, cut into 16 pieces
- Vegetable oil for frying
To Serve:
- Sweet chilli sauce
- Cucumber slices
- Coriander (cilantro) sprigs
Method
- Place coconut milk, lime leaves (or zest), shallots, garlic, galangal root (or ginger), chillies, turmeric, salt and 2 1/2 cups (20 fl oz) of water in large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Add chicken and cook for 20 minutes or until chicken is tender and just cooked. Remove chicken from saucepan and leave to cool on a wire rack.
- Heat oil to 3 cm (1 1/4 in) in a wok or deep frying pan on high heat. Cook the chicken in batches, being careful not to overcrowd, until golden. Drain on paper towels. Serve with sweet chilli sauce, cucumber slices and coriander sprigs.
Labels: Asian, Chicken, Indonesian