Ayam Sambal Goreng Sereh - Chicken in Spicy Lemongrass Sauce

4.9 from 16 reviews

Author: Anita Jacobson

Categories: Main Dish

Cuisines: Indonesian

Ingredients: Chicken

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 40 mins

Total Time: 1 hour

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 8-10 pieces of bone-in chicken (I use thighs and drumsticks)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
• 3 tablespoon oil
• 2 lemongrass (Indonesian: sereh), green part only
• 1 teaspoon turmeric powder (Indonesian: bubuk kunyit)
• 1 can (400 ml) coconut milk
• tamarind liquid (from 1/2 tablespoon tamarind + 4 tablespoon water), mix well and strained
• 2 tablespoon coconut palm sugar, or to taste
• 2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
• Grind the following into spice paste
• 10-20 red cayenne chilies (Indonesian: cabe merah keriting)
• 100 gram shallot (Indonesian: bawang merah)
• 3 cloves garlic (Indonesian: bawang putih)
• 2 lemongrass (Indonesian: sereh), white part only
• 2 inch galangal (Indonesian: lengkuas)

Instructions

1. Marinate chicken: Start with rubbing the chicken pieces with salt and turmeric. Set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Prepare spice paste: Grind garlic, shallot, galangal, red chilies, and the white part of lemongrass in a food processor or with a mortar and a pestle into a smooth paste.
3. Fry chicken: Heat about three tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium-high and fry the chicken until the skin is crispy and golden brown. It is okay for the chicken to be not 100% cooked. Set aside.
4. Sauté spice paste and lemongrass: In the same wok, fry the spice paste, turmeric, and the green part of lemongrass until fragrant. About 5 minutes.
5. Add chicken and the rest of the ingredients: Return fried chicken into the wok, along with coconut milk, tamarind liquid, salt, and coconut palm sugar. Mix well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the sauce is very thick and the chicken is tender and cooked.
6. Serve: Turn off heat, and serve either with steamed white rice, or nasi uduk (fragrant coconut rice).