Rendang is a spiced coconut dish originated from Indonesia.
There are many different recipes around – some with spices such as nutmeg, cloves, cinnamon etc added; some have kaffir lime, some looks brown, some looks yellowish. There are just tons of variation and I love mine with the taste of freshness from the Kaffir Lime Leaves. Fresh Chili Padi are used in this recipe. I used 8 pieces of them and its REAL HOT! Do adjust accordingly to your preference.
Many people have a wrong concept that making fresh curry paste is very difficult and usually just get the ready-mix one from the supermarket. It’s not very difficult. Actually its very easy – not much preparation needed. For the paste, just remove the skin of the ingredients (if require) and cut them into 1 to 2 inches in size. For some of the ingredients, I just blend as a whole. Dump everything into a blender and blend. That’s it for the paste.
When you are ready to cook the curry, fry the paste until fragrance, add in the chicken, and all the rest of the ingredients. Simmer until cooked and serve. Sounds easy isn’t it?
And this curry goes well bread, rice, prata, naan, etc…
- 5 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoon chopped garlic
- 10 Shallots (about 60g)
- 10g Ginger
- 4g Turmeric
- 10g galangal
- 2 Lemongrass (White Part Only)
- 5 to 10 chili padi (depends on individual preference)
- 5 kaffir lime leaves (leaves only, center vein removed)
- 1 candlenut
- 400g boneless chicken leg (diced, about 2 inches by 2 inches)
- 200ml coconut milk
- ½ tablespoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon cinnamon powder
- 2 tablespoon toasted grated coconut
- 1 teaspoon salt (adjust according to personal preference)
- 3 kaffir lime leaves (finely chopped)
- Add all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth
- In a heated saucepan, over medium heat, add in the blended rendang paste and fry until fragrance for about 2 mins
- Add in diced chicken and stir fry for another 2 mins
- add in coconut milk, sugar and salt. Simmer under medium low heat for about 10 mins
- Stir in toasted coconut and ladle the curry chicken into a serving bowl
- Garnish with chopped Kaffir Lime leaves and serve with toasted bread, ketupat or hot steamed rice.