RECIPE: AYAM PATI SKI

This is my mother’s recipe and a favourite with my kids. My mum got this recipe from the Armed Forces Family Association or ‘BAKAT’ (Badan Kebajikan Keluarga Angkatan Tentera). I believe it is an Indonesian dish but I have never come across it before. Maybe it goes by a different name.

Don’t be put off with the amount of chillies in this dish….it is as mild as. And also, don’t skimp on the garlic. You need the amount to get the flavour of the dish. FYI: Cooked garlic does not smell so if you are worried about BO, you need not fear.

So here it is, Ayam Pati Ski. Mr G has claimed this as his signature dish. Initially my daughter would not allow me to put this on the blog as she reckons this should be a family secret recipe (like the recipe for Coke or KFC). But what good is knowledge if you can't share it eh??? And it is not as if I am a business entity (yet). The dish was served with a veg dish of fried French beans (see next blog). Enjoy.

Ingredients
1 chicken (over 2 kg) – cut into pieces
30 fresh red chillies – deseeded fully*
1 large head of garlic – peeled*
15 candlenuts or buah keras (this is sold in Asian grocery shops)*
1 cm thick belacan (small belacan packet measurement)*
2 heaped tbsp Malaysian type Meat Curry Powder*
1 heaped tsp sugar*
2 lemon grass or serai - cut into half and bruised
4 kaffir lime leaves
Salt to taste
3 large pieces of tamarind pieces (assam keeping or gelugur)
1 tin coconut milk
3 tbsp veg oil

Method
Put * ingredients in a grinder and grind to a fine paste with sufficient water.
Heat oil in a large pot. Fry * ingredients until the paste is slightly dry and the oil has seeped through the spices.

Add in chicken and coat thoroughly with the spices. Cover and cook for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure that the spices and chicken does not burn or stick to the pot.

Put in the lemon grass, tamarind pieces, lime leaves, coconut and salt.
Cook till meat is tender and gravy is thick. Serve hot with veg such as French beans, snake beans or okra/ladies fingers and rice.