Ayam Bakar // Grilled Chicken

So it was because of long Easter weekend and we are stuck with no where to go and not much exciting things to do an eat in Padang. So we (me, Tania, Simon and our friend Krisna) decided to have barbecue of something. I suggest chicken that is pre-cooked to prevent salmonella poisoning etc... just in case it wasn't cook through. Thus, I got the task for preparing the chicken , Krisna get the grill ready, Simon in charge of making the fire and grilling and Tania in charge for being cute and adorable cheerleader.

The Chicken on our makeshift grill

I kept this note of Grilled Chicken when my friend and I tried it once in Ambon.

You will need 
1 medium chicken cut to 8 pieces

To be grind in a pestle are:
8 onions
5 garlics
1 cm ginger
2 cm galangal
2 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp of ground turmeric ( or about 1 cm of fresh turmeric)
6 tbsp of palm sugar

You will also need
2 bay leaves
2 lemongrass, bruised
1 cup of water
3 squirts of sweet soy sauce
4 tbsp tamarind water - soaked the tamarind in warm water then with your hand pinched, crushed and mixed it a bit. Then scoop only the water to be put in your cooking.

How to do it:
1. Clean the chicken from the unwanted bits. I took some of the skin out as well as the excess fat. Put aside.
2. Heat the oil and first put the ground spices, lemongrass and bay leaves. Keep stirring until it is fragrant
3. Put in the chicken and stir a bit so it will mixed well with the spices.
4. Let it cook until the water from the chicken comes out.
5. Add what is left, such as sweet soy sauce and tamarind water and water. Let it simmer on low heat.
6. Turn off the stove and let the chicken soaked in the juice. (you can keep this in a fridge too)
7. Grill over charcoal or a BBQ, turning often while smearing it with the spiced juice from the pan.
8. For us it is best served with steaming hot rice, sambal terasi and salad or just cucumber slices.