Chicken rendang with cardamom
“Crack the pod and an aromatic flavour gives its all.”
For the paste
- 6 eschalots peeled
- 4 cloves garlic, peeled
- 4cm piece fresh turmeric peeled (or 1 tsp of ground)
- 4cm piece fresh galangal (or ginger) root, peeled
- 2 or more small red chilli
For the rendang
- 4 chicken Marylands (thigh and drumstick)
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 3 whole star anise
- 10 cardamom pods
- 650ml unsweetened coconut milk
- 4 lemongrass stalks (bottom 5-6cm only, 2-3 tough outer layers discarded)
- 1 tsp tamarind pulp
- 1 tsp sugar
- 5 kaffir lime leaves
- 4 long sweet red chilli
- Salt
Cardamom pods the colour of green olives. And like green olives, they come in just about all shades. White cardamom is a bleached version of the green variety and there are black and brown coloured pods as well, though these have a coarse, less aromatic quality.
I've come to understand this distinction the hard way. My favourite Pakistani restaurant uses black cardamom liberally. As a regular I know to avoid biting into them, as they are as acrid as an uncured olive. Green cardamom is different. In the chicken rendang recipe given here, the cracked pods all but melt as they slowly cook in the coconut milk and can be eaten without fear.
Method
For the paste
Make the paste by putting its ingredients (listed below), roughly chopped, in a food processor with a few tablespoons of water till it is pureed.
Heat the oil in a saucepan and lightly fry the cinnamon, star anise and cardamom for 2-3 minutes stirring constantly. Add the paste and fry, always stirring, for 5 minutes.
Add the coconut milk, lemongrass, tamarind, sugar, kaffir lime leaves and a couple of pinches of salt. Stir and simmer for 20 minutes uncovered.
Add the chicken and
the long chillies and continue to simmer gently for an hour or so, stirring
every 10 minutes, till the liquid has concentrated and sticks to the chicken
pieces.
Serve with steamed jasmine rice.
Serves 4.
