Mummy's Chicken Garam Kunyit (Turmeric and Salt Chicken)

This is a very popular dish back home. It is my mum's "Kay Garam Kunyit" (Turmeric and Salt Chicken). Sometimes we refer to it as yellow chicken as the dish is yellow due to the turmeric. The "rempah" (spice paste) is a simple combination of shallots, garlic (lots please!), chillies, turmeric and salt. 

You can use this spice paste for fish or beef. Every time my mum cooks chicken garam kunyit or any variation of this dish (especially beef!), we kids would be very happy. Mum serves this dish with rice and our favorite French Salad. The most prized part of this dish at the end of the meal would be the yellow oil and bits of rempah remaining at the bottom of the serving dish.

Everyone will fight for this yellow oil.

The lucky person will get to scoop some rice into the dish and mix it around for the rice to absorb the oil and rempah. And that I tell you, is absolutely divine! My mum uses olive oil to cook and we give ourselves the excuse that the oil is good for us :) 

Spice paste pounded coarsely.

I decided to go the traditional way of pounding the ingredients. I dislike using the blender because the spice paste would become too fine. I want them coarse, the way they should be, the way my grandma and mum would do it. And my big lesung batu (mortar and pestle) got a good workout that day. I did the pounding standing up so that it does not stress my back. The usual way would be to place the mortar and pestle on the kitchen floor over some old newspapers (to protect the floor from splatters) and sit on the floor and pound away.

Chicken marinating in rempah.

When the spice paste reached the right consistency, I scooped them up into a mixing bowl and mixed everything with the chicken pieces. I let it sit for about 30 minutes, then I heated some oil in the wok and dropped the chicken in. It is quite easy to cook, just mix it around, simmer and towards the end keep stirring until the dish is dry and the spice paste is slightly browned.

I had to adjust for a bit more more salt and you need this dish to be on the salty side or else it doesn't taste good. The garlic, shallots, turmeric, and salt come together so well. I would say that the chillies play a supporting role lending a hint of heat to the dish. You could leave them out altogether if you like. But please, don't wimp out on the garlic. Lots of garlic gives this dish its distinctive oomph! Unless of course you are one of those people who dislike garlic.

This dish reminds me of home with the added advantage of me monopolizing the yellow oil hee..hee..hee...Fatso can have all the oil and rempah to herself :D It looks like my lesung batu will be having another good workout sometime soon because I plan to cook Fish Garam Kunyit and Beef Garam Kunyit. 

Chicken Garam Kunyit
Recipe source : Phong Hong

Ingredients :
- 1/2 chicken, cut into bite size pieces (about 600g)
- 1" fresh turmeric
- 20 shallots 
- 4 big cloves garlic (and I mean big! If the garlic is small, use more)
- 2 red chillies
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste

Method :
1. Pound turmeric, shallots, garlic, chillies and salt coarsely (you can use blender but your spice paste might get too fine, it is OK but it is better if it is coarser)
2. Put spice paste into a mixing bowl with the chicken pieces. Stir to coat chicken pieces evenly. Let stand for 30 minutes.
3. Heat adequate oil in a wok and pour in the chicken.
4. Stir and cover the wok, lower the flame and simmer. Stir every now and then to prevent the chicken from burning. Add some water if your dish is too dry (My chicken released quite a bit of water and it was not necessary to add any).
5. When the chicken is almost cooked, increase the flame and keep stirring until any liquid is dried up and the spice paste is slightly browned.
6. Dish out and serve with white rice.