Asian Recipe: Lemak Cili Padi

My Humble Lemak Cili Api

Mom-in-law is staying over for the week and hubby requested for Ayam Lemak Cili Padi (Chicken in creamy sauce with bird's eye chilies - what a mouthful!) Guess who had to crush the onions and bird's eye chilies using the traditional mortar? Yup.. yours truly.. I guess I had to prepare it the traditional way. Would much prefer to just blend the ingredients but yeah I guess the Ayam Lemak Cili Padi did turn out nicer. 

Untuk Bahasa Melayu, sila skrol ke bawah.

Ingredients for Ayam Lemak Cili Padi:

1 medium sized onion

3 cloves garlic

5 green bird's eye chilies

2 red bird's eye chilies

Above ingredients are either to be blended or crushed using the mortar.

3tbsp vegetable oil

1 inch young ginger - bruised

2 stalk of lemongrass- bruised

4 pieces of chicken

salt to taste

turmeric powder - optional if you want the dish to be yellow in color-

some water - about 2 cups

1 packet creamy coconut milk powder, dissolved in 1 cup water 

How to cook Ayam Lemak Cili Padi:

1. Heat up the oil in the saucepan and add in the blended ingredients.

2. Add in the ginger and lemongrass.

3. Add in the turmeric if you are using.

4. Add in water and chicken and let it simmer for 45 mins. Adding more water if it gets too dry.

5. Lastly, add in the coconut milk and salt. 

Ramuan untuk Lemak Cili Api:

1 bawang besar - sederhana besar

3 bawang putih

5 cili padi hijau

2 cili padi merah 

Ramuan di atas samada dikisar atau ditumbuk halus.

3 sdm minyak masak

1 inci halia muda - ditumbuk

2 tangkai serai - ditumbuk

4 keping ayam

garam 

serbuk kunyit - jika inginkan warna kuning

air dalam 2 cawan

1 kotak kecil santan atau 1 peket santan kering dicampurkan dengan 1 cawan air.

Cara-cara memasak Lemak Cili Api:

1. Panaskan minyak dan tumis bahan-bahan kisar.

2. Masukkan halia dan serai.

3. Masukkan serbuk kunyit jika mahu. 

4. Masukkan air dan ayam dan renihkan buat 45 minit. Tambahkan air jika perlu.

5. Masukkan santan dan garam. 

Selamat Mencuba!