Ajam Opor (Indo-Dutch Coconut Chicken)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •Large heavy braadpan or Dutch oven, 4-liter or larger
• •Blender or mortar and pestle
• •Tongs

Instructions

1. 1

   Season the chicken

   Toss the chicken pieces with the lime juice and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Let them stand for 15 minutes while you make the bumbu, the spice paste. This short rest seasons the meat all the way to the bone and gives the finished sauce a cleaner taste.

2. 2

   Grind the bumbu

   Blend or pound the shallots, garlic, candlenuts, coriander, cumin, white pepper, and turmeric into a smooth paste, adding a spoonful of coconut milk only if the machine needs help. The candlenuts are not there for drama; they thicken the sauce and give it that soft, rounded body that makes opor opor.

   Candlenuts must be cooked before eating. Don't taste the raw paste; judge it later, after it has fried until glossy and sweet-smelling.
3. 3

   Fry the paste

   Warm the oil in a heavy braadpan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the bumbu and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often, until the raw onion smell has gone and the paste looks glossy with tiny beads of oil at the edge. Add the lemongrass, galangal, salam leaves, and makrut lime leaves for the last minute so their fragrance opens in the oil.

4. 4

   Coat the chicken

   Add the chicken pieces and turn them through the paste until every surface is coated. Cook for 5 minutes, moving the pieces gently. You are not browning them hard; opor should stay pale, and the flavor comes from the patient paste rather than a dark crust.

5. 5

   Poach gently

   Pour in 400ml of the coconut milk and the chicken stock or water, scraping the bottom of the pot. Bring it only to a bare simmer, then cover partly and cook for 30 to 35 minutes, turning the chicken once. The sauce should tremble, not boil. Coconut milk forgives many things, but not being bullied.

6. 6

   Finish the sauce

   Stir in the remaining 400ml coconut milk and the palm sugar. Simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes, still gently, until the chicken is tender and the sauce coats a spoon in a pale ivory-gold layer. Taste for salt now, because the sauce has reduced and the chicken has given back what it took.

7. 7

   Rest and serve

   Turn off the heat and let the opor rest for 10 minutes. Lift out the lemongrass and galangal if you like a neater table. Serve with steamed rice, lontong, or ketupat, and scatter fried shallots over the top. Put sambal oelek beside it, not in it; the mildness is the point.

Chef Tips

• •Salam leaf is not Mediterranean bay wearing another hat. If you can find true daun salam, use it; if you cannot, use one small bay leaf with a strip of lime zest and know that it is a practical stand-in, not the same voice.
• •Keep the coconut milk below a hard boil. A few golden oil beads on the surface are proper and good; a furious boil makes the sauce grainy and coarse.
• •Ajam opor is made for a table with contrasts. Serve it beside sambal goreng beans, atjar cucumber, or a darker soy-braised dish, and suddenly its quietness makes sense.
• •Macadamia nuts are the honest substitute for candlenuts. They give the same soft richness and are easier to find, but fry the paste properly either way.
• •Make it ahead if you are cooking for guests. The sauce settles overnight, the chicken drinks in the spice, and you reheat gently like a civilized person.

Advance Preparation

• •The bumbu can be made two days ahead and kept covered in the refrigerator, or frozen for up to one month.
• •The finished opor is best made one day ahead; refrigerate it once cool, then reheat slowly over low heat with a splash of water if the sauce has thickened.
• •Fried shallots should be added only at the table so they keep their crisp bite.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 320g)