Sambal Chicken My Way Recipes

CHICKEN SAMBAL

Steps:

• For the basmati rice: Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the rice and cook, stirring, until well coated, about 1 minute. Add the chicken broth, 1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and some pepper. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the liquid has been absorbed, about 12 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, for 3 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and season with salt and pepper.
• For the chicken sambal: Whisk together the ponzu, sambal, brown sugar and fish sauce in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Sprinkle the chicken breasts and thighs liberally with salt and pepper on both sides.
• Heat the coconut oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. In two batches, add the chicken, skin-side down, and sear until golden brown, about 6 minutes; flip and sear on the reverse side, another 2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.
• Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the onions, garlic, lemongrass and galangal. Saute until the onions have softened and the garlic, lemongrass and galangal are lightly toasted, 5 minutes. Add the crushed tomatoes and the sambal mixture; bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Return the chicken to the pot, skin-side up, and simmer for 20 minutes to finish cooking through.
• Serve over the rice, garnished with lime wedges, scallions and cilantro.

SAMBAL CHICKEN

Steps:

• Rinse and drain the cleaned chicken pieces thoroughly. Add to a bowl to marinate.
• Marinate the chicken: Add all the ingredients 'for Marinating the Chicken'. Rub well and set aside for a minimum time of 30 minutes to marinate. (Up to 3 hours if refrigerated).
• Rehydrate the dried chillies: Add the dried red chilies to a saucepan with water. Boil this for 10 minutes, then switch off the heat, cover and leave for 30 minutes to rehydrate. The dried chilies will 'plump' up and soften.
• Make the Sambal Paste: Add all the ingredients to make the Sambal paste to a small Grinder jar or blender. When you remove the dried rehydrated chilies from the saucepan, use your fingers to lift them out of the water. Do not squeeze them to remove water. Add to the grinder jar.
• Grind these ingredients, to a very smooth paste without adding water. The liquid from the rehydrated chilies s and the tomato is sufficient liquid.
• Frying the chicken: Heat half cup oil in a wide wok and fry the marinated chicken pieces on all sides till golden. It does not have to be fully cooked here. Remove the fried pieces from the oil.
• Now you can either remove all but 3 Tbsp of the oil, or use the remaining oil in the wok to saute onions. ( In the video, I use all the remaining oil. However, you can reduce the amount of oil and keep sprinkling water during the long cooking process, as I do when I don't have too many other things happening in the kitchen.)
• Add the chopped onions, whole spices (cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, star anise) and the ginger-garlic paste.
• Saute till the raw smell of the ginger and garlic is gone. Then add the half of a tomato, that has been chopped and saute till the tomato softens.
• Once the tomato is soft, add the prepared Sambal Paste. Give it a good stir. Rinse out the blender/ grinder with a small amount of water so as not to lose any of that paste.
• Now, cook this slow and low. Low-Medium heat for 20 minutes. Stir every 3-4 minutes. This is where the amount of oil plays well and prevents scorching of spices. If you used less oil, to begin with, keep sprinkling water so you don't get the burnt taste.
• After 20 minutes, the oil has separated and the sauce is nice and thick.
• Add the tomato ketchup and hot and sweet chilli sauce.
• Now return the fried chicken and stir well. Cook the pieces in the sauce briefly and then add the water (1/2 cup). Stir well and bring to a boil. Lower the heat, add the Lime leaves(torn) and cook for 10 more minutes. Add salt, only if needed.
• After 10 minutes, we see the thick gravy coating the chicken pieces.
• Serve with plain steamed rice or Nasi Minyak (ghee rice).

SAMBAL CHICKEN, MY WAY

Steps:

• Gather all ingredients before starting recipe.
• Cut chicken thighs in half, roughly equal sized pieces.
• Mix marinade ingredients in a medium sized bowl.
• Add chicken thighs and set aside for about an hour. If you plan to marinate the chicken longer than an hour, refrigerate but remove chicken from your refrigerator an hour before cooking.
• Pre heat over to 425°F
• Line a sheet pan with non-stick aluminum foil and transfer chicken pieces to sheet pan.
• Pour left over marinade into a small sauce pan and bring to a gentle boil over medium heat, cook for 1-2 minutes, then reduce heat to medium low until ready to serve.
• Transfer chicken to pre heated oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes, or until the chicken is beginning to char around the edges. Turn chicken and cook for another 15 minutes, or until the second side begins to char.
• Remove to a platter and serve with plain white basmati rice with reserved marinade drizzled over the chicken.