Chicken Rendang

There's a guy selling lemang* near my house. I bought one to try it out. The medium sized cost me RM10. What is lemang without some rendang right? So I also bought some rendang from him. One small container was RM5. I bought one but my mom looked and said "that's not enough", so she bought another container. The rendang was nice but they used old chicken. We don't like old chicken. Plus, it seemed like there were more bones than chicken. The quantity was also too little.

So, what to do? Cook my own rendang lah.

How did it turn out? Boleh tahan lah (Not too bad). I wanted to get some more lemang to go with it but DH said "You want me to die faster ah? So much coconut milk."

So, what's in my chicken rendang?

• Blended shallots, garlic, turmeric, ginger and lemon grass
• Fry all that blended stuff in some oil. 
• Added some of my FIL's chilli. He makes a whole batch and keeps them in the freezer. Here is his chilli paste recipe.
• Added in the chicken. I like to put salt on the chicken first before cooking.
• Stir around for a few minutes.
• Pour in the santan (coconut milk). How much santan to use depends on how much gravy you want. My family loves gravy, so I put in a bit more. If you like dry rendang, then don't put too much. Or else you'll overcook the chicken while waiting for the santan to dry out.
• Let it simmer till chicken is cooked. Add in kaffir lime leaves and turmeric leaves while simmering. I shred the leaves into tiny strips first.
• Add in the kerisik*. I took the easy way out and bought ready made kerisik from the shop. I used 2 small packets.
• Before you finish, taste to see if you need to add in more salt or sugar.

*Lemang = Glutinous rice and coconut milk cooked in a hollowed bamboo stick. It's traditional Malay food found in abundance during the month of their Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebration.
*Kerisik = grated, toasted and grounded coconut paste.

I cooked one whole chicken. So I used about 6-7 shallots, one whole garlic bulb, 1/2 finger length of tumeric, 1 finger length of ginger, 3 lemon grass. 
Sorry, I can't really give you exact measurements. When I cook, I just estimate and adjust according to the quantity I need to cook for my family. Don't be afraid to make mistakes.


Hope you enjoy the recipe.