Gulai Ayam Padang - Padang Chicken Curry

5.0 from 15 reviews

Author: Anita Jacobson

Categories: Main Dish

Cuisines: Indonesian

Ingredients: Chicken

Prep Time: 30 mins

Cook Time: 1 hour

Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoon cooking oil
• 3 lemongrass (Indonesian: sereh), bruised and chopped
• 7 kaffir lime leaves (Indonesian: daun jeruk)
• 1 cinnamon stick (Indonesian: kayu manis)
• 3 cardamom (Indonesian: kapulaga), crushed
• 6 cloves (Indonesian: cengkeh)
• ½ star anise (Indonesian: bunga pekak/bunga lawang)
• 2 teaspoon coriander (Indonesian: biji ketumbar)
• ½ teaspoon cumin (Indonesian: jinten)
• ½ teaspoon turmeric (Indonesian: kunyit)
• 1 chicken cut into 8-12 pieces, or 4-5 chicken leg quarters cut into thighs and drumsticks
• 50 gram (1/4 cup) coconut palm sugar (Indonesian: gula Jawa)
• 2 teaspoon salt
• 5 gram (1 teaspoon) tamarind pulp (Indonesian: asam Jawa)
• 750 ml (3 cup) water
• 200 ml (1/2 can) coconut milk
• Grind the following into spice paste
• 3 cloves garlic
• 150 gram (5 oz) shallots
• 50 gram (1.5 oz) red chilies (Note 1)
• 1 inch ginger
• 2 inch galangal (Indonesian: lengkuas)
• 5 candlenuts (Indonesian: kemiri) (Note 2)

Instructions

1. Prepare spice paste: Use a food processor or a mortar and pestle to grind garlic, shallot, red chilies, ginger, galangal, and candlenuts into a smooth paste.
2. Sauté spices and aromatics: Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a wok over medium heat and sauté spice paste, bruised lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, cinnamon, smashed cardamom, cloves, star anise, coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Stir until fragrant, about 5 minutes.
3. Sauté chicken: Add chicken to the wok and stir to coat with the spices. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink.
4. Add seasonings and water: Add salt, coconut palm sugar, tamarind, and water. Mix and cook until boiling. Reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 30 minutes, or until the chicken is soft and tender.
5. Add coconut milk: Stir in coconut milk and continue simmering for another 15 minutes. Turn off the heat, and serve the chicken curry with steamed white rice.

Notes

• (1) From hottest to mildest: bird-eye, cayenne, and Fresno. You can use about 10 grams of dried chilies too instead of fresh chilies.
• (2) You can substitute candlenuts with the same amount of macadamia.