Sambal Chicken Recipe (Koli Sambal)
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.
Equipment
Blender
Cooking pot
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.
Nutrition
Nutrition Facts
Sambal Chicken Recipe (Koli Sambal)
Serving Size
1 servings
Amount per Serving
Calories
646
% Daily Value*
Fat
55
g
85
%
Saturated Fat
19
g
119
%
Trans Fat
0.1
g
Polyunsaturated Fat
4
g
Monounsaturated Fat
29
g
Cholesterol
68
mg
23
%
Sodium
1254
mg
55
%
Potassium
509
mg
15
%
Carbohydrates
23
g
8
%
Fiber
3
g
13
%
Sugar
11
g
12
%
Protein
19
g
38
%
Vitamin A
182
IU
4
%
Vitamin C
14
mg
17
%
Calcium
65
mg
7
%
Iron
4
mg
22
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.