serves
4-8
prep
40 minutes
cook
45 minutes
difficulty
Mid
serves
4-8
people
preparation
40
minutes
cooking
45
minutes
difficulty
Mid
level
Ingredients
- 125 ml (½ cup) vegetable oil
- 250 ml (1 cup) tamarind paste (see Note)
- 1 × 1.5 kg chicken, jointed
- 2 tbsp caster sugar
- salt
- steamed rice, sliced cucumber and boiled eggs, to serve
Spice paste
- 1 stalk lemongrass, white part only
- 4 cm piece galangal, peeled and roughly chopped (see Note)
- 5 cm piece turmeric (see Note)
- 10 large dried red chillies, soaked in boiling water for 10 minutes, then drained and roughly chopped
- 3 fresh long red chillies, roughly chopped
- 10-12 (300g) red Asian shallots, roughly chopped
- 1 garlic clove, peeled
- vegetable oil, as needed (optional)
- 2 tbsp preserved soybeans (see Note)
- 1 star anise
- 8 cloves
- 1 small cinnamon stick
- 10 black peppercorns
Instructions
To make the spice paste (see Note), process the lemongrass, galangal, turmeric and chillies in a blender until roughly chopped and well combined. Add the shallot, garlic and beans and blend until a smooth paste forms, adding a drizzle of vegetable oil if needed to help the ingredients to blend.
Using a mortar and pestle, pound the star anise, cloves, cinnamon stick and peppercorns until finely ground.
Heat the oil in a wok or large, heavy-based, non-stick saucepan over medium heat, then add the wet spice paste and cook, stirring continuously, for 2–3 minutes or until fragrant. Add the ground spices and stir for 1–2 minutes or until well combined and fragrant. Gradually add the tamarind paste, pressing it through a small sieve to remove any seeds, then stir for 1–2 minutes or until the spice paste is aromatic and caramelised.
Add the chicken and stir for 5 minutes or until it is well coated. If the mixture appears dry, add some extra tamarind paste or water to prevent the ingredients from catching to the base of the pan. Add the sugar and salt to taste.
Cover, then simmer over low heat, stirring to ensure the sauce does not evaporate and adding extra if tamarind paste or water if necessary, for 15–20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Taste and balance the sauce by adding more sugar, salt or tamarind if necessary.
Serve with steamed rice accompanied by cucumber slices and boiled eggs.
Note
• You can find tamarind paste, galangal, turmeric and preserved soy (brown) beans from most Asian grocers.
• When making the spice paste, it’s a good idea to add 60 ml (¼ cup) water to the blender so the ingredients are easier to blend. If the sauce has evaporated too much and tastes sour enough, stop adding tamarind and add water instead. You want a nice balance of sweet, salty and sour and the gravy should be fairly thick.
Photography, styling and food preparation by china squirrel.
Poh & Co. 2 Thursdays at 8.30pm Thursday on SBS.
Cook's Notes
Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.
