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.
