Indonesian Yellow (Turmeric) Rice With Sambal Bajak and Fried Chicken

I made all these dishes when we had our open house few months ago. We moved to a new place and decided to have invite some of our friends twice. The first time was a potluck party. For the second one, my mom and I cooked everything by ourselves and chose a traditional Indonesian cuisine to be served to our friends.

Yellow turmeric rice and all the condiments are very popular in Indonesia, especially for parties and gatherings. The original version of the yellow rice is actually using coconut milk, but I made a healthier version by not adding the coconut milk. We were not big fans of coconut milk, and this savory rice dish was so yummy even without the coconut milk. By the way, we love the non coconut milk version more than the one using coconut milk.

For the side dishes, I made Indonesian salad which recipe I have shared here, fried noodle, perkedel (fried mash potato), Indonesian traditional fried chicken, and of course: sambal and keropok. There were some other dishes that we also made, but I will share in another posts.

The best part was probably the fried chicken which was cooked in lots of herbs and spices and for us, it even tasted better than the crispy fried chicken from fast food restaurants.

Since these were party size dishes, you can cook half or even third of the recipe if you want to serve these to less people.

Sometimes, the yellow rice is made using rice cooker to save time, but to me and my family, the taste is not so good as the traditional or old method. First, we have to cook the rice with all the spices in a large wok until the rice has absorbed all the water. Then, we steam the rice in boiling water until the rice is cooked through. This requires more time and supervision and dishes to wash, but the taste is so much better than just cook it in rice cooker. Anyway, I will also add the details of how to cook this in a rice cooker.

I will also add the recipe for making Indonesian fried chicken with lots of spices and also (the most important part) how to make the sambal or chili paste that goes well with this dish.

Resep Nasi Kuning / Yellow Turmeric Rice Recipe (Big / Party Size)

Ingredients:

1. 4 cups of rice, wash thoroughly
2. 8 shallots, minced
3. 8 garlic, minced
4. 2 thumbs of ginger, cut in thin slices
5. 100 gr galangal, cut in thin slices
6. 10 salam leaves
7. 10 lime leaves
8. 2 tbsp salt
9. 5 to 6 tsp turmeric powder (depends on how yellow you want your rice to be, and different brands can give different results)
10. 3 tbsp cooking oil
11. Water to cook the rice (the amount of water is depending on the type of rice that you use)
12. 8 tbsp spice infused oil / garlic oil (you can check the recipe in here). You can skip this or substitute with garlic oil (check the recipe for garlic oil here)

Method: (if using a steamer)

1. Heat a big wok with 3 tbsp of cooking oil
2. Add garlic, shallot, ginger and galangal and stir fry until aromatic
3. Add rice, salam leveas, lime leaves, tumeric powder. Stir fry for around 3 minutes
4. Add water and season with salt, mix well, and continue cooking while stirring occasionally until there is only little water on the wok
5. Turn off the heat, add 8 tbsp of spice infused oil and mix well
6. Let the rice mixture cool in room temperature for about 15 minutes
7. Cook rice in a steamer with boiling water for about 45 minutes
8. After the rice is thoroughly cooked, turn off the heat, stir with a spatula, and let the rice continue absorbing all the spices for about 1 hour
9. Serve the yellow rice warm with the condiments: sambal bajak (Indonesian chili paste), fried shallots, yellow (turmeric) fried chicken, fried eggs, and fresh salad such as cucumbers and iceberg lettuce. There are actually many things can be served with this yellow rice such as perkedel (Indonesian fried mash potatoes), or empal (Indonesian sweet fried beef).

Method: (if using rice cooker)

1. Heat a big wok with 3 tbsp of cooking oil
2. Add garlic, shallot, ginger and galangal and stir fry until aromatic
3. Add rice, salam leveas, lime leaves, tumeric powder, and salt. Stir fry until the rice has absorbed all the water and well combined with all the spice mixture, then continue stirring for another 3 to 5 minutes
4. Transfer the rice mixture to a rice cooker and add 10 tbsp of spice infused oil. Mix well
5. Add water to cook the rice
6. Stir 2 to 3 times during the cooking process
7. After the rice is thoroughly cooked, set the rice cooker to warm setting and keep the rice inside the rice cooker for 1 or 2 hours before serving. The rice will continue absorbing all the spice mixture and the oil during this process
8. Serve the yellow rice with the condiments: sambal bajak (Indonesian chili paste), fried shallots, yellow (turmeric) fried chicken, fried eggs, and fresh salad such as cucumbers and iceberg lettuce. There are actually many things can be served with this yellow rice such as perkedel (Indonesian fried mash potatoes), or empal (Indonesian sweet fried beef).

Resep Sambal Bajak / Indonesia Chili Paste Recipe:

Ingredients:

1. 150 gr red chili
2. 8 shallots
3. 6 garlic
4. 2 tsp shrimp paste
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 10 lime leaves
7. 2 tomatoes
8. 1/2 cup of water
9. 2 thumbs of galangal, cut in thin slices
10. 1 lemon grass, take the white part only and crush
11. 5 salam leaves
12. 5 tsp palm sugar / gula aren
13. 2 tsp white sugar
14. 4 tbsp cooking oil
15. lime juice from 5 limes
16. 5 tbsp fried shallots

Method:

1. Add ingredients number 1 to 8 to a blender and process until smooth (or roughly chopped, depending on how you want your chili paste texture to be). You can also use mortar and pestle instead of a blender. Transfer to a wok
2. Add galangal, lemon grass, salam leaves, palm sugar, and white sugar to the wok
3. Cook the mixture in low heat until the mixture has absorbed the water
4. Add cooking oil and stir fry until fragrant for about 3 to 5 minutes
5. Turn off the heat, add lime juice and fried shallot and mix well

 

Resep Ayam Goreng Lengkuas / Indonesia Traditional Fried Chicken in Spice Mixture and Grated Galangal

Ingredients:

1. 2 chicken, cut into small parts (me: 14 for each chicken)
2. 10 shallots
3. 10 garlic
4. 20 candlenuts
5. 4 tsp coriander powder
6. 1 tsp sugar
7. 1 tbsp salt
8. 1/2 tsp pepper
9. 2 thumbs of ginger, cut into 5 and crush
10. 1 tbsp turmeric powder
11. 250 gr grated galangal (grate manually or using a shredder tool in the food processor)
12. 2 lemongrass, take the white part only and crush
13. 10 lime leaves
14. 10 salam leaves
15. water
16. 5 tbsp cooking oil

Method:

1. Using a blender, process shallots, garlic, candlenuts, and cooking oil until they form a paste. Transfer the paste to a large wok
2. Add coriander powder, ginger, turmeric powder, grated galangal, and lemongrass and stir-fry until fragrant
3. Add lime leaves, salam leaves, seasoning (salt, pepper, sugar), chicken, and water (about 100 ml) to the wok and mix well
4. Turn to low heat and cover the wok with a lid and cook until the chicken is thoroughly cooked and has absorbed all the spice mixture
5. Discard all the leaves, ginger, and lemongrass
6. Separate the chicken from the spice mixture
7. Shallow fry (use about 5 tbsp of cooking oil) the spice mixture until golden brown 
8. Deep fried the chicken until golden brown and set aside
9. Sprinkle the crispy bites on top of the fried chicken

Serve all together with the yellow rice……………….so delicious………………