Chicken rendang

This chicken version of the classic Indonesian dry curry has the same delicious flavors but is quicker to make. Packed with coconut, chili and aromatic spice.

Prep Time15

Cook Time1

Total Time1 15

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Indonesian

Servings: or slightly more if smaller portions

Calories: 787kcal

Author: Caroline

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Ingredients

For spice paste

½ cup shallots (½ cup is approx 2 - 3 shallots)
3 cloves garlic (3 cloves is approx 2 tablespoon chopped)
1 ½ tablespoon chopped ginger (fresh)
2 tablespoon chopped galangal (fresh)
2 stems lemongrass white part only, 2 stems is approx 3 - 4 tablespoon chopped
5 dry red chilis eg arbol chili or you can use cayenne (see notes)
½ teaspoon turmeric optional

For rest of dish

1.7 lb bone in chicken thighs
1 tablespoon coconut oil or other neutral oil eg vegetable
1 cup coconut milk
1 tablespoon tamarind pulp
3 makrut lime leaves (or 4 if smaller)
1 star anise
1 tablespoon coconut sugar or brown sugar
¼ cup desiccated coconut (see note) unsweetened

Instructions

Soak the chilis in boiling water to soften while you prepare the other spice paste ingredients. Soak the tamarind in boiling water as well - around ⅓ cup (80ml) - and set aside.
Roughly chop the other spice paste ingredients - shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal and lemongrass and add all to a small food processor/blender. Depending on how strong your processor/blender is you may want to pre-chop them more or less. Save the green part from the lemongrass but trim the very end.
Drain the chilis, remove seeds if you prefer and roughly chop. Add the dry chilis and turmeric, if using, and blend everything together into a paste. If needed, scrape down the sides and blend again. It may not be completely smooth, but you want to avoid having large chunks.
Break up the soaked tamarind to try to get as much of it mixed into the water then strain to remove solids, pressing through as much as you can. Top up the tamarind water to ¾ cup (180ml).
Warm the oil in a medium pot/pan over a medium heat. Add the spice paste and cook, stirring now and then, for around 5 minutes until the paste is fragrant. Add the green part of the lemongrass, lime leaves and star anise and cook a minute.
Add the pieces of chicken and cook a minute or two each side to gently brown the meat (you just want more of a gentle color rather than a strong sear).
Add the coconut milk and tamarind water. Stir so that everything is well combined then bring the pot to a simmer.
Reduce the heat to a low simmer and cook, uncovered, turning the chicken now and then and stirring the sauce to ensure it isn't browning or sticking on the bottom. After around 40 minutes, you should see the oils separate and rise to the top with the rest of the sauce underneath. Add the sugar, and if needed add a little salt, if needed. At this point, cook for around 5 minutes more, meanwhile preparing the coconut.
As the chicken cooks, gently toast the desiccated coconut either under the broiler/grill or in a dry skillet until gently brown. Add this to the chicken and mix in. Remove the whole spices, scraping back any sauce stuck to them into the sauce. Serve chicken topped with the sauce over rice.

Video

Notes

Traditionally the coconut you add at the end is fresh, grated coconut that you then toast but it's much harder to find so desiccated makes a reasonable substitute.

While I recommend bone in thighs for this, you could also use boneless. Use around 1lb/450g or a little more (around 4 - 6 thighs depending on size) for this recipe quantity.

This has a decent chili kick, but if you like you can make it stronger by adding more chilis to the paste (it's on the medium to lower side for a rendang as is).

You typically add turmeric but I forgot it here. Though honestly, I sometimes find it better without as turmeric stains and so it avoids that issue.

I sometimes, as here, use 1 stem of lemongrass and 1 rounded tablespoon of paste to be a little less to chop and easier on my blender. That still gives one green part and any discarded outer layer to add in to infuse as it cooks.

Nutrition

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