Home > Gulai Ayam (Padang Chicken Curry)

Gulai Ayam (Padang Chicken Curry)

Posting Date: 02/26/17

Gulai Ayam (Padang Chicken Curry) is originally from West Sumatra (Padang). Since Padang people have the strong desire to better themselves economically, many of them moved out of their area to other areas in Indonesia to get better jobs. Some of them even moved to Singapore and Malaysia. Thus, Padang food, including Gulai Ayam, can be easily found in any Padang restaurants all over Indonesia since once they moved, they started to open Padang restaurants. Their food is quite popular in Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore. One of the most well known Padang food is Beef Rendang.

The food from Padang tends to be hot because they use a lot of chili peppers. Indonesians also have their Kari Ayam (Chicken Curry). This Kari Ayam normally doesn't use chili peppers and thus, it is not hot like Gulai Ayam. In my recipe, I substitute chili peppers with sambal oelek since it is sometimes not easy to find red or Thai chili peppers in the Asian grocery stores in my area. I use Huy Fong brand for sambal oelek since they don't add shrimp paste or garlic to it and thus, I got the chili pepper I need without any other flavors I don't want. I intentionally make the recipe mild. You can add more sambal oelek to make it hot. Traditionally, the dish is normally served with steamed rice and other Padang main dishes, such as beef rendang, telor balado, etc. I have those recipes on my website, too. So, please feel free to browse my websites for them.

The recipe serves for 2-3 people.

Ingredients:

3 small size shallots or 1 large size shallot, halved. They will be processed in food processor.
3 cloves of garlic, halved. They will be processed in food processor.
1/2" fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped. They will be processed in food processor.
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
2 teaspoons coriander powder
1/2 tablespoon sambal oelek or to taste. If you like heat, add more sambal oelek. I use Huy Fong brand for sambal oelek since they don't add shrimp paste or garlic to it and thus, I got the chili pepper I need without any other flavors I don't want.
1 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg powder
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 lemongrass, white part only, smashed with the back of your knife to release the flavor and aroma
1 cinnamon stick
6 chicken drumsticks. You can also use other chicken parts, such as breast or thigh. If using breast, use 3 chicken breasts.
2 kaffir lime leaves or 1/4 teaspoon lime zest. For kaffir lime leaves, tear the edge of the leaves so that it will release the flavor and aroma.
1 cup water or more depending on the size of your pot
1 cup coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt or to taste
1 tablespoon brown sugar or to taste
1 tablespoon tamarind water or to taste. To make tamarind water, dissolve 1 tablespoon of tamarind paste in 6 tablespoons boiling water for about 10 min. Discard tamarind paste using a strainer. Since you only need to use 1 tablespoon, you can keep the remaining tamarind water in a small jar. You can use it to make Pad Thai among other things.
pinch of pepper or to taste

Methods:

Put shallots, garlic, ginger, turmeric powder, coriander powder, sambal oelek, cumin powder, and nutmeg powder in a food processor. Pulse the food processor so that it becomes smooth paste.
Turn on the stove to medium high heat. Add vegetable oil to a pot. Add seasoning paste, lemon grass, and cinnamon stick to the pot. Saute them until they become become fragrant. Add chicken into the pot and saute it for about 3 min until it is coated with the seasoning paste and it changes color to yellow, the color of the seasoning paste. Add kaffir lime leaves or lime zest, water, coconut milk, salt, brown sugar, tamarind water, and pepper into the pot. Make sure the liquid completely covers the chicken. If the liquid doesn't cover the chicken, add more water but you want to use just enough water to cover the chicken. Do not use too much water since we will reduce the liquid during cooking. Adding too much water will increase the cooking time. Cook the chicken until the liquid starts to gentle boiling. Reduce the heat to simmer. Taste the liquid and add more sugar, salt, or pepper if needed. Let it continue cooking until the chicken is soft and fully cooked and the liquid is slightly thicken to your desire. Turn off the heat.
Serve it warm with steamed rice.

Notes:

To make tamarind water, dissolve 1 tablespoon of tamarind paste in 6 tablespoons boiling water for about 10 min. Discard tamarind paste using a strainer. Since you only need to use 1 tablespoon, you can keep the remaining tamarind water in a small jar. You can use it to make Pad Thai among other things.
If you like Gulai Ayam to be thicker, you can continue cooking it until it reaches the thickness consistency you want. Some people prefer not to have it thick. If that's the case with you, as soon as the chicken is fully cooked and soft, turn off the heat.

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