Satay Ayam Goreng / Food Panda Vouchers Giveaway

Even as a mum who cooks all the time, there are times I really don’t want to and neither do I want to go out for dinner. In such cases, food delivery options can be limited very much to fast food and pizzas delivery, which is definitely not ideal.

I’ve recently come to know about a food delivery service called Food Panda where you order and get food delivered from a large number of eateries and restaurants. And the choices of cuisine is mind boggling – from India, Italian, Chinese to Mexican!  All you have to do is to enter your postal code, choose the restaurant, and browse through the menu and order. It is that simple.

Food Panda is now giving two food vouchers worth S$25/RM$60 each to two readers residing in Singapore and/or Malaysia. With these vouchers, you’ll be able to try out their service for yourself!

Here’s how it works:

1. Enter the following line in the comment box of this  below: I would like to try (Indonesia, Thai, Mexican, or whatever your choice of cuisine is) food through Food Panda! 
2. You can find out what cuisine is offered through Food Panda on www.foodpanda.sg and www.foodpanda.my.
3. Giveaway runs from June 5, 2013 to June 14, 2013. The lucky winners will be picked at 10pm on June 14, 2013. (Contest is now closed - winners will be notified on week of June 24 as my contact in Food Panda is away on vacation at the moment, sorry for the delay!)
4. How winners will be notified: If you are a blogger, I'll leave a comment on your blog. If you are not a blogger, please ensure that you leave your email address in the comment box so that I can contact you easily. 
5. The Food Panda Giveway is open to all residents of Singapore and Malaysia.

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And now for the curry recipe that I want to share. Since I went for Violet Oon's cooking class, I've been wanting to try out her easy and delicious Satay Ayam Goreng at home. I've been busy cooking many other things and did not find time to do so till last week when I was looking for recipes to match Little Thumb's Up curry related theme. 

When I tried this dish at the cooking class, I fell in love with the aromatic gravy served with the chicken. Quite unlike other curry chicken recipes where there is a large amount of sauce, this recipe calls for the gravy to be cooked till it is thickened and reduced such that what's left is the wholesome goodness of the spices and fresh ingredients used in the sauce.  

What I really like about this recipe is that I didn't use any oil, or salt and sugar and it turned out really delicious. The dried chillies, fresh chillis, candlenuts and shallots form an amazingly fragrant spice mix which is then gently stewed in the coconut milk with an infusion of lime leaves and lemon grass. 

The result is a tender chicken pieces that is moist and flavourful and coated with that oh-so-good gravy. Perfect to serve with rice or bread. 

Satay Ayam Goreng (Serves 4 to 6)

Recipe by Violet Oon

Ingredients

• 1 chicken cut into pieces of 1.2 kg of cut up thighs and breast of a chicken
• 3 cups of thick coconut cream or freshly squeezed coconut cream from 2 coconuts
• 1 - 1.5 tsp salt (I omitted)
• 2 - 4 tsp sugar (I omitted)
• 1 stalk lemongrass smashed, to allow flavours to infuse curry
• 3 kaffir lime leaves, broken up, to allow flavours to infuse the gravy
• 1 tbsp coriander powder* (I used ready-made coriander powder)

Spice/Curry Mixture

• 5 dried chillies or 1 tbsp dried chilli paste
• 5 candlenuts, washed and drained
• 3 red chillies, sliced roughly
• 150 g shallots, peeled, sliced roughly
• 1 tsp belacan (shrimp paste) 

*Dry fry coriander seeds in frying pan till light fragrant. Grind in a coffee grinder and sieve to get dine powder. Discard the rough bits. Alternatively, buy ready-made coriander powder. 

Method

1. Wash dried chillies, soak in hot water for about 1 to 2 hours till softened. Cut the stalks off and cut the chillies into small pieces.

2. Pound the candlenuts till semi-fine. Add the fresh chillies and pound till semi-fine. Add the dried chillies and pound for 3 to 4 minutes. Add the shrimp paste and pound well. The last ingredient to add is shallots. Pound till the mixture is very fine. Alternatively, you can grind the ingredients in a food processor till you get a smooth paste. Grind all the other ingredients first before adding the shallots for further grinding.

3. Mix all the ingredients (spice mix, coconut milk, lemongrass, lime leaves, chicken) in the sauce pan and bring to boil. Sprinkle the coriander powder into the pan and then add salt and sugar to taste. Simmer till the liquid is reduced and the gravy is thick. 

4. If the chicken is cooked (45 mins to 1 hour) and can be easily pierced with a fork, remove the chicken and further thicken the gravy till desired consistency.

5. Serve with rice, first removing the lemongrass and lime leaves.

This post is linked to the event, Little Thumbs up organised by Doreen from my little favourite DIY and Zoe from Bake for Happy Kids, hosted by Miss B from Everybody Eats Well in Flanders, at this post.