weekend recipe: indonesian style fried chicken in yellow spices + classic sambal matah

there has been no easier cultural exchange than food. i’ve been somehow end up cooking indonesian food in the kitchen of grey garden restaurant in hauz khas village and the kitchen of akash hotel of mcleod gandj, while i was there. things happen like my regular weekend in jogjakarta. best food, best friends, best drinks, good laugh and great time. i love cooking and sharing what i love the most is what i love the best :)

it was not hard to find the ingredients in delhi and dharamsala, because the spices are pretty much similar. although it has been missing a few things. this chicken recipe is adapted from the indonesian one here. it’s an old time classic, a west javanese style. i remember we always have it in the family, with extra fried spices on top.

indonesian style fried chicken in yellow spices

ingredients:

1 whole chicken, cleaned, cut into 8 parts

2 leaves of salam leaves (indonesian bay-leaf)

2 sticks of lemongrass, crushed them

half litre of water/coconut water

coconut oil/vegetable oil to fried the chicken

yellow spices (grind together, best using the stone grinder):

5 pieces of candlenut

1 tablespoon of coriander seeds

8 pieces of garlic

4 cm of turmeric, grilled with skin and peel

4 cm of galangal

4 cm of ginger

1 teaspoon of salt

how to make:

1. marinate chicken with the yellow spices, leave it for 2 hours until the flavors infuse.

2. cook the chicken with salam leaves, lemongrass in medium heat. bring to a boil. reduce heat. close the pan.

3. cook until the water runs out, stir occasionally. keep the chicken intact. remove and let cool.

4. deep fried the chicken in oil until it’s yellow. remove. serve with rice and sambal.

notes:

i usually put extra cuts of tempe, tofu and chicken liver into the boil. they’re just best basic marinating spices for fried food :D

classic sambal matah

this balinese style sambal is a classic. raw and spicy. it’s inherited recipe :)

ingredients:

8 clove of garlic

8 clove of red onions

11 small red chillies

5 teaspoon of coconut oil, heated until it’s smoky

1 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of lime juice

how to make:

1. cut thinly all the garlic, red onions and chilies, put into a bowl.

2. pour the salt and lime juice. heat the oil.

3. pour the oil on top of the mix. mix it by hand until the onions loosen and spread evenly. serve.

notes:

this classic sambal matah is basic. you can cut lemongrass and fried them with the coconut oil and pour all over it and it become a sambal sereh (lemongrass sambal). or you can add cut tomatoes and add a bit of sugar to have the dabu-dabu, sulawesi style sambal, best with seafood stuff. you could also use kecombrang (ginger flower) cut the stick into slices, fried them with coconut oil and pour all over like how you make the lemongrass sambal, mix them and you have sambal kecombrang.

indian love #1: books

if i should fall with things, i would say i’m in love with books. yes, i’m that geeky. and the reason that i’m in love with india is because of the books. i feel like i want to move all the bookstore to jogja. and oh my, they are 1/4 the price of the english books in indonesia, i can’t believe my eyes. the first bookstore (paramount in janpath market) was having all this crazy collections and a very nice old guy, fantastic reference and love of books. got everything in our mission: the complete rabindranath tagore for our #tagore project and complete shakespeare for labo. got a few novels also. that’s just first day stuff.

the day we are leaving for dharamsala from new delhi, we went a bit mad. bought like 10 kilos worth of books in picadilly at shankar market, taking the books we can’t wait to read and left the rest 7 kilos to be package to indonesia safely. and it did. it arrived exactly at the time of losar and no tax! OMG, so fast! kiss the dragon for me will you, it’s the best new year’s present ever!

and yeap, that’s my heavenly expression browsing in my heavenly place in picadilly. how i love the smell of good old books. classic stuff! i did not dare to enter the dharamsala bookstores, scared that i would add another few kilos in the collections we’re bringing from india. totally coming back for it! there would be next time for me, for sure :D

a little closing, even when i’m just passing a stationary store in sarojini market in my last day in delhi, the rumi collection that i have been searching was just sitting there in the corner of the store. oh dear. it’s just faith. taking it home.

me at picadilly bookstore – connaught place | treasure from paramount – janpath market | rumi at sarojini market |opening the package from india at losar | the classic titles from picadilly | my son pajamas can’t say it better for the books (loving them!)

delhi #1: hauz khas village – vintage store

one of the intriguing place in south of new delhi is the hauz khas village. it is known for an old village (old apartments and flats) where it become the center for art since the 70s. because in delhi we also stay nearby at a friend’s place in hauz khas main, we go to their restaurant a lot too. this complex is also surrounding a lake. i love how the alleys and tunnel of this place. i might do another post later on hauz khas. they have nice fancy restaurant, art gallery and artsy stores, remind me of kemang area somehow, but it feels more rustic and got this underground feeling to it. this post is dedicated to my friend tarlen and ika. specifically on the vintage store i found where i know it would be their heaven when it was too for me. enjoy and of course coming surprise from the place for you girls :)

an introduction to india: experiencing the total sense

it’s been a dream that come true. i remember a conversation that abmi and i had six years ago, about going to india someday. i remember last year on putting a prayer flag at the door of my rented house, making a little wish to go to dharamsala soon. five days ago i was still there, i felt like crying when i have to leave the sight of moonpeak. the snow. the march. the warmth of people in north indian winter. the tibetan vibes and monastery. it was my first trip overseas after five years, it was abmi’s first trip abroad. i know i had cry to see this places in my dream.

i arrived yesterday in jogjakarta. still feeling the major flush of emotions in my face in the indira gandhi international airport in delhi. the new best friends across the world. the major noise of delhi and the crowd. the food. the books. the music. the haggling. the market. even the way i started to move my head when i’m trying to decide something. the different language in my head. the cold breeze of delhi and the sound of auto everywhere. i know i left parts of me in india somehow.

the tibetan march. immolation. whitney houston death in an indian television. the bomb in delhi. the magic of how the outside world revolve in our journey. the personal memories. the here and the now.

i said to abmi, in our journey, maybe in the bus or maybe in our kashmiri style room in mcleod ganj, “while you collect new families, i’m a collector of memories.”

delhi-dharamsala trip still leave me speechless. this post is an attempt to wake me up where i don’t want to wake up.

skyline of new delhi – connaught place | chandni chowk – old delhi | jama masjid – old delhi

tibetan candle march – dharamsala | moonpeak view from mcleod ganj

photo courtesy of abmi handayani