Another Traditional Fried Chicken : Ayam Goreng Santan

Most of us like fried chicken pretty much, and there are lots of variety of fried chicken.
For me personally, traditional fried chicken have a very special room in my tummy. When it is served fresh and warm from the kitchen, there is no more time to wait. Just grab a plate of rice and enjoy the fried chicken with chilli sauce.

Good Food never go out of style!
There are many methods to prepare traditional fried chicken. The most simple one that I use in my kitchen is just marinating the chicken with vinegar, salt and pepper for 30 minutes, fry it, and serve with warm rice and chilli sauce.
Other popular method in this country is by simmering the chicken with fresh spices paste, herbs and/or roots until the water is almost completely gone and the chicken have absorbed all wonderful flavor from the herbs, roots and spices. This is the method I used to make this chicken.

It was during our Independence Day, last August. We had no plan to go out, so I decided to cook simple traditional lunch for my family. I marked this recipe from a magazine a couple of weeks ago, and I thought that my family would like it. Not too different with other traditional Indonesian fried chicken that cooked with 2 methods (simmering then frying), this recipe substitutes the water for simmering with coconut milk. The result; we got delicious, flavorful, tasty traditional fried chicken.

At that time the fried chicken was accompanied by stir fried bean sprout that served with fried anchovies and brown rice. Not to forget; kerupuk and sambal. Yummy!

Ayam Goreng Santan
Bahan / Ingredients:
1 ekor (1kg) ayam ras, potong menjadi 12 bagian / 1 kg chicken, cut into 12 pieces
400 ml santan dari 1 butir kelapa parut / 400 ml coconut milk from 1 piece of coconut
Minyak untuk menggoreng / Oil for frying

Bumbu, haluskan / Spices, ground :
8 cm lengkuas / 8 cm galangal
2 siung bawang putih / 2 cloves garlic
1 batang serai, ambil bagian putihnya / 1 lemongrass, use the white part
1 sdt merica butiran / 1 tsp white pepper
2 cm kunyit, bakar / 2 cm tumeric, grilled
1 sdt ketumbar butiran, sangrai / 1 tsp coriander, *fried without oil
1 sdt gula pasir / 1 tsp sugar
2 sdt garam / 2 tsp salt

Cara Membuat :
1. Campur ayam, santan dan bumbu halus. Aduk rata. Masak di atas api kecil hingga ayam empuk dan santan meresap. Angkat.
2. Panaskan minyak, goreng ayam dan sisa bumbu hingga kering dan kecoklatan. Angkat.
3. Sajikan bersama sisa bumbu.

Method :
1. Mix the chicken, coconut milk and spices. Stir well. Cook over low heat until chicken is tender and the coconut milk is absorbed. Lift up.
2. Heat oil, fry the chicken and remaining spices until dry and look brown. Lift up.
3. Serve with remaining seasoning.