Rendang Chicken 巴东干咖喱鸡

I have never tried cooking rendang curry dish mainly because I cannot manage the long list of spice involved as well as the trouble of cooking the rendang paste. Dancing Chef Padang Rendang Paste simplified all the trouble and time in preparation of the rendang paste into a small packet of ready-to-cook paste. All I need to buy was some chicken thighs, coconut milk, grated coconut and a few kaffir lime leaves. The preparation was simple - boil everything to half the original volume.

For an extended variation, I saved two rendang chicken thighs and some gravy to make 5 rendang chicken buns the next day.

Click here for the link to the rendang chicken bun recipe

Ingredients

600~800g chicken thighs

1 packet Dancing Chef Padang Rendang Paste

100~200ml water

150 ml coconut milk

1~2 stalks lemongrass

3 leaves Kaffir lime leaves

1 tbsp palm sugar, optional

2 tbsp dessicated coconut *

* you can use store-bought dessicated coconut or homemade. Click the link to assess the recipe.

Directions

1. Rinse chicken thighs and trim away excess fat.

2. Rub 1/2 packet of Dancing Chef Padang Rendang Paste over the chicken thighs.

Let the thighs marinate for about 30 minutes.

3. Add the remaining half packet of Dancing Chef Padang Rendang Paste, 100ml of water, coconut milk, lemongrass and Kaffir lime leaves to the pot, and bring to a boil.

Keep the other 100ml of water till after adding the thighs.

I prefer a sweeter gravy, so added 1 tbsp of palm sugar/gula melaka to the rendang gravy. This ingredient is optional.

4. When the gravy starts to boil, add in the marinated thighs.

Add the remaining 100ml of water till the gravy reaches about 4/5 the ingredients' height. Need not add too much water as the meat will release juice to the gravy after cooking. Stirring occasionally.

I skim away the excess oil to have a leaner gravy. This step is optional.

5. When the gravy reduces by half,

add in about 2 tbsp of toasted coconut.

6. Serve the dish with warm rice. Enjoy 😋