Sambal Chicken, a spicy Malaysian delicacy that is loved and cooked all over Asia. A spicy paste is made with lemongrass, shallots, garlic, chillies. Chicken is cooked in sambal and finished with toasted coconut.
Sambal Chicken
Few weeks back I tried making my version of Malaysian platter. I made Nasi lemak, chicken sambal and sago cake. This is my version of chicken sambal and it taste absolutely delicious.
About Sambal Chicken
First what is Sambal - Sambal is a spicy sauce made using red chillies, ginger, garlic, lemon grass, galangal, tamarind, palm sugar, onions and shallots. The paste is cooked in oil till the raw smell goes and the paste gets thick and oily.
It is a popular condiment in Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. This is traditionally served with Nasi lemak and other Malay dishes. You can make my egg sambal which is hugely popular.
It has a complex flavor that is all at once earthy, spicy, and hot. The traditional way of grinding the spices to make the sambal paste is to use a stone mortar and pestle.
But you can use a blender to fasten the process. You can make a huge batch of sambal and use in recipes throughout the month.
Similar Recipes
Sambal chicken is one of the most easy dish you could ever make. Specially when you have prepared sambal paste. Because that is what takes time.
Here are some alternatives you can use in this recipe, specially for the sambal. Instead of shallots, you can use small red onions which gives the same flavour. And if you don't have dry red chillies, use Kashmiri chilli powder instead.
If you prefer to use less tamarind paste, you can add lemon juice in the end once the chicken is cooked.
Ingredients
- Sambal Paste - You need, onions, shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, dry red chillies, jaggery, tamarind paste and salt for making the paste.
- Chicken - use bone-in chicken for making the sambal chicken more juicy and flavourful.
- Coconut milk - it adds richness to the curry and makes it so creamy.
- Spices - use whole spices like cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise, lemon grass for the flavour.
- Coconut - fresh coconut is roasted and added to the curry.
Step by Step Pictures
1)Take ingredients for sambal. You need, onions, shallots, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, dry red chillies, jaggery, tamarind paste and salt for making the paste.
Start by soaking dry red chillies in hot water for 15 minutes.
2)First take, onion, shallots, ginger, garlic, dry red chillies, lemon grass in a blender and make it into a slightly coarse paste.
3)Heat oil in a kadai. Once it is hot, add in the ground fresh masala. Allow this to cook in the oil for 8 to 10 minutes until the raw smell leaves from the mixture.
4)Add in tamarind paste and jaggery into this. Add salt to taste and mix well.
5)Cook this until oil separates from the mixture.
6)Now add in the whole spices in the curry. I used star anise, lemon grass, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves. Stir fry the spices with the sambal for few minutes.
7)Add in chicken pieces and toss well with the sambal.
8)Stir fry the chicken in the sambal for 4 to 5minutes so the sambal coats the chicken.
9)Pour in little water, mix well. Cover and cook for 25 to 30 minutes on low heat until the chicken is cooked completely.
10)Now pour in coconut milk.
11)Add few torn kaffir lime leaves.
12)Simmer the flame and cook for further 15 minutes.
13)meanwhile toast the coconut until it gets golden brown in colour.
14)Add in the roasted coconut into the sambal chicken.
15)Mix well. Cook for 5 minutes. Turn off the heat and serve.
16)Serve with rice.
Expert Tips
- After the sambal is cooked, ladle as much of the hot sauce as you want onto your main dish or rice. The rest of the sambal should cool before storing in fridge or freezer.
- The frozen sambal will keep for 2 to 3 months. It's best to freeze it in smaller containers and take out what you need for each meal.
- Most of the ingredients can be found at Asian markets or high-quality grocery stores with a robust international foods aisle.
FAQ
How long can we Store Sambal?
You can make a huge batch and store in a glass jar for over a month in fridge.
📖 Get Recipe
Sambal Chicken Recipe (Koli Sambal)
Equipment
Ingredients
To Grind Coarse for Sambal
- 10 no Small onion (Shallots) peeled
- 1 medium Onion peeled and chopped
- 20 no Dry Red Chillies
- 1 inch Ginger peeled and sliced
- 6 cloves Garlic peeled
- 2 no Lemon Grass (stalks) chopped finely
For Cooking Sambal
- 2 teaspoon Salt or to taste
- 2 tablespoon Palm Sugar or to taste
- 3 tablespoon Tamarind paste
- ½ cup Sunflower Oil
For Chicken Sambal Curry
- 750 grams Chicken
- 1 cup Thick Coconut Milk
- ¼ cup Fresh Coconut
- 2 no Kaffir lime leaves torn
Spices to Use
- 1 piece Cinnamon
- 4 no Cardamom
- 2 no Cloves
- 1 no Star anise
- 2 no Lemon grass Stalks crushed slighly
Instructions
- Soak dry red chillies in hot water for 15 minutes. Strain and set aside.
- Grind all ingredients given for sambal except salt, tamarind and jaggery to a slightly coarse paste.
- Heat oil in a kadai. Add in the ground masala and cook for 10 minutes on low until the colour deepens and oil starts to separate. Now add in salt, jaggery and tamarind and mix well. Cover and cook till oil separates and the sambal is thick. You can remove the sambal to a jar and store in fridge till needed.
- Now let's make sambal chicken. Add in whole spices listed above into the sambal. Stir fry for 2 minutes to flavour the sambal. Now add in chicken and stir fry for 5 minutes until the chicken is coated with sambal. Now cover and cook for 20 to 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile take fresh coconut in a dry pan and toast on low heat until it gets golden brown. Keep mixing so the coconut doesn't burn. Once it is golden, remove and set aside.
- Now Add in kaffir lime leaves, coconut milk into the cooked chicken and cook on low heat for another 10 mins. Now add in toasted coconut and mix well. Cook for few more mins. Serve hot.
Video
Notes
- After the sambal is cooked, ladle as much of the hot sauce as you want onto your main dish or rice. The rest of the sambal should cool before storing in fridge or freezer.
- The frozen sambal will keep for 2 to 3 months. It's best to freeze it in smaller containers and take out what you need for each meal.
- Most of the ingredients can be found at Asian markets or high-quality grocery stores with a robust international foods aisle.
- Instead of shallots, you can use small red onions.
- In place of the dried chilies, add chilli powder.
Desicart
Nice blog to follow while preparing recipes.Thank you so much for sharing with us.
D
So so yummy!
Delvina Glover
I love sambal it’s my favourite dish.