Asam Pedas Ayam (Spicy Tamarind Chicken) Curry

Asam Pedas or spicy tamarind gravy is one of the favourite dishes mong the Malays in Singapore and Malaysia. A dish so understated and yet complex in its taste. Like most other Malay and Asian dishes , it's the trick of getting the balance of flavours right which is the hardest skill to master. 

The versatility of this dish definitely gets my vote. A minor tweak to the recipe and you can add fish or prawns instead of chicken. The spicy gravy is highly addictive. Before you know it, you will be slurping it like soup!! Paired with warm white rice and have the perfect marriage. In this household, we waste none of it, leftover gravy will be savoured with warm Indian roti the next morning.

Ingredients:

To blend fine:

• 1 medium red onions, roughly chopped
• 10-20 dried chillies, de-seeded & soak in hot water for 10 minutes (depends on the heat you referred)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 inch ginger
• ½ tbsp turmeric powder
• ½ tbsp shrimp paste
• ½ tbsp whole black pepper

Others ingredients:

• 800-1000g chicken breast, cut into bite-size pieces or you can use chicken on bone
• ½ cup cooking oil
• ½ tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 lemongrass, bruised
• 2 tomatoes, quartered
• 2-3 kaffir lime leaves
• ½ cup tamarind juice
• 1 wild ginger flower, optional
• 1 aubergine, quartered
• 6 okra, half (optional)
• 500ml water
• 1 tbsp kerisik*
• handful of daun kesum (Vietnamese mint), optional
• salt & sugar to taste

Method:

De-seeded the chillies and soak the chillies in hot water while you prepared the rest of the ingredients.

To get the tamarind juice, mix 1 tbsp tamarind paste with ½ cup water and mix it well and soak for 10-15 minutes. As the tamarind soak, the water gets darker. Use your finger & mix the tamarind with the water to squeeze all the goodness from the tamarind. Set aside while you preparing the rest of the ingredients.

In  a blender put together the onion, garlic, shrimp paste, black pepper, ginger and dried chillies. Blend into a fine paste with some water.

Heat up the oil in a medium pot big enough to fit the chicken. Add in the fenugreek seeds.

Add in the chilli paste on medium heat and fry until fragrant, cooked through and it has begun to dry up but be careful not to burn it. Add the bruised lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves and the chicken pieces. Continue cooking until the spices nearly dried up and the chicken is half cook. 

Add in the tamarind juice, aubergine, tomatoes, Vietnamese mint and wild ginger flower. Mix well and simmer until the chicken is cook and tender and the vegetables is soft. Add some water in between if it looks too dry. Then add in the kerisik.

Add in sugar & salt to taste. At this point you can add a bit more water if you like more gravy for the curry. Also add in the okra. Cooked until the okra is soft.

Serve immediately. 

Jemput makan!!!

 Notes:

• When adding water, make sure is not too watery, The gravy should be nice & thick not soupy.
• Lessen the chillies if you wish for something milder
• Kerisik is a condiment made of grated coconut which us toasted. It is a secret to the nutty caramelized flavour of a curry. If you can't find fresh coconut, you can replaced with desiccated coconut. Toast the coconut on a medium heat until deep golden brown but not burnt.  Once ready add the toasted coconut to a pestle and mortar. Pound until the oils are released and a paste form. Alternatively, you can add this to a food processor. Once you have a dark paste, the kerisik is ready to use