I love cookbooks. My latest birthday gift, Fire Islands: Recipes from Indonesia by Eleanor Ford is no exception. The book is full of interesting regional recipes, all beautifully photographed. The chicken in this recipe is coated with a wonderful combination of tamarind, coconut milk and spices which not only ensure the chicken remains succulent but also become deliciously caramelised during roasting. Serve with steamed rice.
Preheat your oven to 190ºC (375ºF). Place the whole chicken in a not-too-large roasting dish and paint the skin all over with tamarind paste. Roughly chop 2 onions, 4 garlic cloves, 2 large red chillies, two lemongrass stalks (with the tough outer leaves removed) and a 4cm piece of fresh turmeric and grind to a paste in a food processor. If you can’t find fresh turmeric you can replace it with 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric. Heat some oil in a saucepan and cook the paste until it is no longer raw and smells fragrant. Now paint the outside of the chicken with some of the paste and place a little inside the chicken. To the rest of the paste add 1 can of coconut milk and 2 teaspoons of dark coconut sugar. Bring to boil and simmer for 5 minutes before pouring it over the chicken. Roast the chicken for 1 hour or until it’s golden brown, making sure the chicken is coated with the coconut mixture. When the chicken is ready, remove it from the pan and rest it. You will find the oil has separated from the mixture in the pan and you can discard this and serve the wonderfully caramelised remainder with the chicken.
michelle picker cooks 