Ayam Kunyit

Last Friday, my grandson wanted the 'yellow gravy' over his rice for lunch. He told me that he likes it. I promised him I would cook it next Friday which is today.

Ayam Kunyit is a family favourite. This is one of my mum-in-law's 'agak-agak' recipes. Like her, I also cook the agak-agak(estimated) way. But for the sake of my daughters and friends who read my blog (I hope so), I took the time to measure the amount for each ingredient used. The method of cooking is just to 'dump' everything in and cook! That's how easy it is!! :)


Ingredients:

1.5 kg chicken, cut into choice size

400g peeled onions or about 5 medium-sized onions
30g turmeric (kunyit) or 3 1/2 pieces (see pic)
2 stalks lemon grass (serai), sliced thinly (picture shows the length required)

1 stalk lemon grass, bruised (use a pestle to knock the stalk)
4 to 5 kaffir lime leaves

From 1 1/2 fresh coconut, 1 cup thick coconut milk and
3 cups second coconut milk

OR

800 ml coconut cream from packet
1 to 2 cups water

salt to taste


Method:

1. Grind onions, lemon grass and turmeric together till fine and put into a pot.

2. Add water and bruised lemon grass and bring to a boil.

3. Once mixture is boiling, add the chicken and half of the coconut milk or cream.

4. Stir to mix and bring to a boil till chicken is about cooked, then add the rest of the coconut milk and boil till chicken is done. Add in the kaffir lime leaves, cover and remove from stove.

5. Serve with sambal belachan and rice.



Picture shows the exact portion of ingredients.


The chicken looks 'naked' because I removed the skin.

The layer of oil came from the coconut milk. If coconut milk is boiled too long, it becomes oily. I overboiled after adding the coconut milk because I was interrupted and that led to my giving the dish a double dose of salt. To salvage it, I had to use a small packet of coconut cream with a little water. Thank goodness it didn't taste so salty! Btw, the gravy should be thickish and not watery.