Ayam Panggang Bumbu Rujak (Grilled Chicken with Spicy Sauce)

This is another popular dishes in my hometown, Malang, Indonesia. Ayam Panggang Bumbu Rujak. I'm not really sure the translation in English. I think "Grilled chicken with spicy sauce" is proper enough. This dish is originally from East Java. The chicken will be cooked together with the spices until aromatic and grilled using a charcoal grill. This dish can be easily served together with any kind of vegetable (raw or stir fried) and any kind of carbohydrate. Well.. I usually eat it with hot steamed rice. It goes well too with nasi gurih. Yum! Heel erg lekker ^^

Ingredients :

• 1 kg chicken (about 4 chicken thighs)
• 2 1/2 medium shallots (or 6 Indonesian shallot), peel
• 5 cloves of garlic, peel
• 5 chili peppers, removes the seeds
• 5 candlenuts
• 1/2 tsp galangal (laos) powder (or 2 cm fresh galangal)
• 1/4 cup tamarind water (or 1/4 tsp tamarind paste)
• 2 tbs palm sugar
• 2 bayleaves
• 1 lemongrass
• 2 tbs sweet soy sauce
• 75 ml (1/4 cup) water
• 4 tbs vegetable oil
• salt and pepper

Tip :  To make tamarind water : 1 tsp seedless tamarind + 1/4 cup warm water (stir and squeeze the tamarind until the water becomes dark brown and remove the tamarind) = 1/4 cup tamarind water. If you're using tamarind paste, adjust the amount of water. Add about 125 ml (1/2 cup) of water instead of 75 ml.

Tip : Add 1 or 2 cabai rawit (bird's eye chili) if you want to increase the spiciness. Blend it together with shallots, garlic, candlenuts, and chili pepper. Cabai rawit or bird's eye chili is a small chili pepper that usually found in Southeast Asia. Some people call it Thai chili. This chili is much more spicy than chili pepper.

Preparation :

1. Clean and cut the chicken into pieces. Set aside.
2. Blend together shallots, garlic, chili pepper, candlenuts, and galangal. 
3. In a big pan, heat vegetable oil.
4. Add the blended spices into the pan and saute until fragrant. 
5. Put the chicken pieces into the pan and stir until all all of it are covered with the spices
6. Add tamarind, palm sugar, bayleaves, lemongrass, sweet soy sauce, and water into the pan
7. Stir them well.
8. Cook until the spices are absorbed and almost all the water are evaporated. 
9. Prepare the grill.
10. Separate the chicken from the spices and remove it from the pan.
11. Transfer all the spices into a bowl and set aside.
12. Grill the chicken pieces until their color become dark brown. Brush them occasionally with the spices using pastry brush.
13. When its done, cover again the chicken with the spices, and serve it in a big plate. 

For the grilling process, I was using my indoor electric grill. Let me show you mine.

You can use charcoal grill if you want. If there are no grill available in your house, you can use oven. Set your oven temperature into 200 C (390 F). If you have broiler feature in your oven use it. Transfer the chicken in a ovenproof dish. Put it on the 2nd top rack of your  preheated oven/broiler and bake the chicken for about 8-10 minutes or until they become dark brown. Turn it over and bake again until browned on both side.