Ajam Persik is a great tasting chicken dish from Malaysia. While this recipe calls for the dish to be cooked in the oven,. in Malaysia, you will find street vendors barbequing it. Either way it is really good eating. Serve it with the blue rice salad Nasi Kerabu for an authentic Malaysian eating experience.
Ingredients
Ayam Percik ( spiced chicken with coconut milk)
Chicken – four thighs ( or breast fillets)
Onion – 100 grams
Ginger - one inch
Garlic –four to five cloves
Turmeric powder – one teaspoon
Salt– one teaspoon
Sugar – two teaspoons
Coriander seeds – one teaspoon
Fennel – one teaspoon
A bit of water
Percik sauce
Onion - 100 grams
Garlic- four to five cloves
Ginger – one tablespoon
Lemongrass – three stalks
Candlenut – five to six ( see note )
Water
Vegetable oil – ¼ cup
Sambal Oelek – four tablespoons
Tamarind paste – one teaspoon
Brown sugar – one tablespoon
Salt to taste
Coconut milk – 250 grams
Instructions
Preparation the day before
Marinade
Peel and chop a medium onion
Remove the outer layer of three stalks of lemongrass. Chop into inch pieces
Peel and chop five cloves of garlic.
Place all of the above into a grinder together with one teaspoon of salt, two teaspoons of sugar, one teaspoon of turmeric, one teaspoon of coriander seeds, one teaspoon of fennel seed and about half a cup of water.
Blitz all of these ingredients into a fine paste.
Make gashes into the chicken legs about half an inch deep. Place in a shallow dish
Pour the marinade over the chicken and seal with clingfilm. Place in the refrigerator. Refrigerate overnight
For the base of the Percik sauce
Peel and coarsely chop one medium onion
Remove the outer layer of three stalks of lemongrass.
Cut off the root area and top of the lemongrass. Cut the white inner stalks into one-inch pieces
Place the chopped onion and lemongrass into a grinder.
Add one tablespoon of ginger paste, the nuts ( see note) and a little water.
Grind to a coarse paste
Pour into a jar. Cover with clingfilm and place into the refrigerator. Refrigerate overnight
The next day
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Remove the chicken from the fridge. Place on a baking sheet and spoon the remaining marinade over the pieces.
Place the chicken in the oven for thirty-five minutes.
In the meantime, heat a quarter of a cup of vegetable oil to medium heat. Remove the base for the Percik sauce from the refrigerator and sauté in the heated oil for about five minutes.
Now add two hundred and fifty millilitres of coconut cream. Mix well
Add four tablespoons of Sambal Oelek. Simmer gently for fifteen to twenty minutes, and then add one teaspoon of tamarind paste and one tablespoon of sugar.
Remove the chicken from the oven
Spoon the Percik sauce over the chicken. (keep about a quarter in reserve for later) Turn up the temperature to 220 degrees Celsius. Grill until the chicken starts getting a slightly char-grilled appearance. Remove from the oven
Spoon the remaining Percik sauce over the chicken and serve
Notes
If you cannot find candlenuts use macadamia or cashew nuts.
This dish it outstanding when barbequed. Serve it with Nasi Kerabu ( Malaysian blue rice salad)