Fried Chicken with Spices (Ayam Goreng Berempah)

Ayam Goreng Berempah (Oct 2011)

It's not unusual for Malaysians to add a variety of fresh herbs & spices when preparing the local meat dishes and the Ayam Goreng Berempah is one of it. (The name says it all, doesn't it?) The local Malays have this wonderful, aromatic fried chicken which I think, taste much  better than any deep fried chook from the fast food joints. 

"Nasi lemak biasa, mau ayam goreng, Kak?"  (One coconut rice with or without fried chicken?)

For some, a plate of coconut rice accompanied by a piece of fried chicken, is a typical breakfast or a late night supper! Sometimes I do wonder how we, Malaysians, managed to live beyond our fifties, when we consume all that rich food everyday!  Let me tell you... it's certainly more than just the fried chicken! There's the char kuey teow, fishhead curry, all that street food.....yumyum! As Malaysians say "Eat Now, DIEt Later Lar!"

So, the conclusion for a greedy ol' me is ~ make the street food my home food! It's healthier, hygenic and there's no long queue!

Ayam Goreng Berempah Recipe:

Ingredients:
1 chicken (chopped into frying pieces) or 8 drumsticks
A spring of curry leaves
6 shallots
5 cloves of garlic
1 inch of ginger
3 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp coriander seed
2 tsp fennel seed
1 tbsp tumeric powder
4 tbsp corn flour
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp Salt
Oil for frying

Method:

1. Pound shallot, garlic & ginger until it becomes a paste. Add the chili powder, coriander seeds, fennel seeds, tumeric powder and curry leaves into the paste and just give it a light pounding. Alternatively, if you don't like to eat the spices, you could put all the above into a blender & blend until it becomes a paste
2. Marinade the chicken pieces and leave in fridge overnight or at least 2 hours.
3. Dip the chicken pieces into the beaten egg one by one then dust with cornflour before deepfrying. This should be done just before deepfrying.
4. Heat up frying oil and fry the chicken pieces till golden brown. Don't forget to pick up the bits of fried spices. (Those are the best bits!)