Chicken Rendang (Rendang Ayam)

Chicken Rendang, or Rendang Ayam is a lip-smacking Indonesian dry curry that's loaded with tender chicken simmered with a spice paste and coconut milk until there's almost no sauce left. At this point, the remaining sauce is caramelize around the chicken along with roasted coconut to create an ultra-flavorful coating around each piece of chicken.

Course Entree

Cuisine Southeast Asian

Level Intermediate

Main Ingredient Poultry

Diet Dairy-Free, Gluten-Free

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 55 minutes

Total Time 1 hour

Servings 6 servings

Calories 462 kcal

Ingredients

for spice paste

100 grams shallots (20 Asian shallots peeled and chopped)
30 grams galangal (1 1/2 inch piece peeled, sliced)
30 grams lemongrass (~ 2 stalks, light part only, thinly sliced)
20 grams ginger (peeled)
3 tablespoons dried chili flakes (to taste)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (or 1 fresh turmeric root)

for rendang

1/4 cup vegetable oil
25 grams garlic (4 large cloves, smashed)
925 grams bone-in skin-on chicken legs (chopped into pieces)
1 cup coconut milk (poured from the top of an unshaken can)
20 grams coconut sugar (2 tablespoons)
5 kaffir lime leaves (sliced into very thin threads)
3/4 cup grated unsweetened coconut 50 grams

Instructions

Put the shallots, galangal, lemongrass, ginger, chili flakes, salt and turmeric in a small food processor or blender and puree, adding a bare minimum of water as necessary to keep the paste spinning.
Heat the oil in a large heavy bottomed pan over medium heat and add the chicken, skin-side down and then add the garlic in the gaps between the chicken. Thoroughly brown the skin-side of the chicken and then transfer to a bowl.
Add the spice paste to the pan you used to brown the chicken. Fry the spice paste until the paste is very thick, caramelized and fragrant. Stir-constantly to ensure even caramelization and to prevent the paste from burning to the pan.
Return the chicken to the pan and add the coconut milk and coconut sugar. Adjust the heat down to maintain a gentle simmer and cook the chicken until it is tender, about 30 minutes. Be sure to stir the rendang regularly, especially towards the end as it will burn.
If at this point you feel like there's too much oil, you can use a spoon to skim some off as it floats to the top.
While the chicken cooks, add the grated coconut to a dry frying pan, and roast, stirring constantly until the coconut has browned and is very fragrant. Transfer the coconut to a bowl and set aside until the chicken is done.
Once the chicken is tender and there is very little sauce remaining, turn up the heat to medium and add the toasted coconut and kaffir lime leaves.
Stir-fry the rendang until the sauce has caramelized into a thick coating around the chicken (about 10 more minutes). Serve the Chicken Rendang with rice.