Opor Ayam // Chicken cooked in coconut sauce

Some people call this dish as Indonesian chicken curry which is "not". According me Indonesian chicken curry is called Gulai (gule) Ayam. They both are almost similar, except the gulai (gule) ayam has more spices such as cardammon, cloves and nutmeg... in fact, it contains almost all spices in the ingredients. I've posted gulai ayam previously, so now you have a chance to try cooking and comparing both of them. Trust me, they're both delicious... >_<

But Indonesian cuisine is very rich and created by people throughout Indonesian islands. It's hard to find similar recipes across the country. The food would have the same name, but the ingredients quite vary and sometimes depends on its location and natural resources, not to mention influenced by India, the Middle East, China, and Europe. So is with this opor ayam dish, if you're googling, you'll find hundreds varieties of recipes and will cause you headache. It happened to me too when I started learning cooking. Don't worry, at the end you'll find the best recipe that suits you the most. Bon appétit...

Opor Ayam

Ingredients:
1 kg chicken, cut in pieces
2 salam leaves
1 stick lemon grass
1 cm fresh galangga (laos)
4 cm cinnamon stick
750 cc coconut milk

Fine grinded:
10 small shallots
4 cloves garlic
1 tbs coriander
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 cm fresh ginger
2 cm fresh curcuma (1 tsp curcuma powder)
salt & pepper to taste


Directions:
- Fried the chicken in little oil until both side colored, set aside.
- Heat oil in a pan, add grinded ingredients, salam leaves, lemon grass, laos and cinnamon. Stir fry until fragrant.
- Add the coconut milk and chicken. Season with salt & pepper.
- Cook until the chicken done.