As promised in my post about what we ate whilst holidaying in a log cabin, here’s my recipe for one of the meals I rustled up for the gal dem.
Indonesian/Malaysian food lovers and purists will almost certainly not like this recipe. Traditionally a rich, spicy curry from Indonesia, Rendang is more commonly served with beef, whereas this version uses chicken as a more cost effective crowd-pleaser. It’s really saucy too as it has two full tins of coconut milk, of which not much evaporates, leaving lots of delicious juices to soak up the sticky rice and breads. Yummmm.
I used this authentic paste from Malay Taste which combines the flavours of onion, sugar, fresh chilli, coconut, fresh lemon grass, garlic, salt, tamarind, fresh galangal, fresh ginger, coriander, black pepper, cinnamon, cumin, fennel and turmeric.
The mass of creamy coconut milk worked to mellow out the spice, but trust me it was still packed full of flavour.
We also bulked it out with fresh veggies, ginger, coriander and lime to serve.
Serves 6, takes 45 mins. Well, it took us 45 mins because we had nothing but a basic bread knife to chop all our meat and veggies. So I guess like 30 mins in usual circumstances. 🔪😂🔫
You will need:
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 1 white onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, finely diced
- 1 pack baby corn, halved and quartered
- 1 thumb-sized piece fresh ginger, grated
- 2 red peppers, diced into chunks
- 2 x 400 ml tins light coconut milk
- 185g jar Malay Taste Rendang Curry Paste
- 6 chicken breasts, diced into 2 cm chunks
- 1 pack of spring onions, roughly chopped (reserve a few handfuls for garnish)
- 30g pack freshly chopped coriander (reserve a few handfuls for garnish)
- 2 fresh limes
To serve:
- Thai style sticky rice
- Garlic and coriander naan breads, buttered
- Prawn crackers with sweet chilli dipping sauce
- Sliced spring onions, to garnish
- Freshly chopped corriander
- Wedges of fresh lime
What do to:
- Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan with a lid, once melted, add the diced onion and saute (gently fry) over a medium heat until the onion starts to turn translucent (3-5 mins). Add the garlic and stir well.
- Add the curry paste to the pan and 1 tbsp of the coconut milk. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, until the aromas are released. Add the chicken and stir fry until browned, then stir in the remaining coconut milk and bring to the boil.
- Reduce the heat and simmer uncovered for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce reduces and thickens slightly.
- Add the baby corn, red peppers and sliced spring onion, put the lid on the pan and gently simmer for 10 mins, until the veggies are just tender. Remove from the heat and stir in the coriander and the juice of 2 limes at the last minute. Serve immediately with sticky rice and buttered naan breads, not forgetting your extra coriander and lime to garnish.
