Chicken rendang

In my mind, a rendang of any sort has to have a thick coconuty dark gravy... But these days I find that is not the case anymore...

I often watch Jackie M's videos on how to cook Malaysian dishes and boy she does make it seem so easy!

So upon watching one of her videos, she highly recommended using Mak Siti's Rendang Spice Mix, not only to make rendangs but also can be added to different curries as well.

Last year, during MFest at Tumbalong Park, Darling Harbour, we saw a stall selling this spice mix and I bought one and it has been sleeping in my pantry for a good 5 months!

The good thing is at the back of the packet, there are simple instructions to follow.


So here's how I made Rendang Chicken using Mak Siti's Rendang Spice Mix.

Ingredients:

125g Mak Siti's Rendang Spice Mix
1 red onion, chopped
2 stalks lemongrass, only the white part
2 inches galangal
4-5 pandan (screwpine) leaves
1 stalk curry leaves
2 kg chicken drumstick, skin removed
3 tbsps olive oil
1 cup reduced fat coconut milk
1.5 cups magnetised water
Himalaya rock salt to taste

Method:

1. Blend onion, lemongrass and galangal until fine. (If you prefer a spicier version, add some red chillies)
2. Heat oil in a wok and sauté blended ingredients until aromatic.
3. Add Mak Siti's Spice Mix and stir well. Cook until the oil separates.
4. Add pandan leaves, snip curry leaves and chicken pieces and stir until the spices coat the chicken.
5. Cook for 4-5 minutes.
6. Add coconut milk, water and salt and allow to cook, on a medium to low heat, covered until it reduces to your liking. This might take up to 20 minutes.
7. Dish up, sprinkle with chopped spring onions to garnish.


This is more of a curried version of chicken rendang instead of the typical rendang. Nevertheless, it tasted good!