Ayam Masak Merah

Today we are going to make Ayam Masak Merah (chicken in red sauce). Ayam masak merah is a Malaysian dish (ayam = chicken, masak = cook, merah = red). It's a mildly spicy tomato based curry that is incredibly delicious! I made it on the Malaysian night I had at home a while ago and Mr. Foodie have a craving for it the other day so here it is.

Ingredients:

Chicken marinade:                                                              Paste ingredients:

1kg chicken thigh fillets or drumsticks                                   2 onions

2 tsp salt                                                                              8 cloves garlic      

1 tsp turmeric                                                                       2 inches ginger

2 tbsp cornflour                                                                    10 red chillies    

pepper                                                                                  2 tbsp cumin

Other ingredients:

1 onion sliced in rings

8 tbsp tomato paste

4 cloves garlic minced

6 cardamom pods

5 cloves

2 star anise

2 cinnamon sticks

2 tbsp honey

1 tbsp brown sugar

0.5 cup water

salt to taste

Method:

1. Coat chicken well in marinade and leave for 2 hours.
2. Blend paste ingredients to make a paste.
3. Shallow fry chicken pieces till golden brown and remove from pan.
4. Fry clove, cardamom, star anise and cinnamon until fragrant.
5. Add the paste and fry until fragrant. It's important to cook off the paste to really get the full flavour. Stir regularly to avoid burning.
6. Next, add all other ingredients and chicken then mix well.
7. Bring to boil then reduce heat and simmer until sauce is thickened and chicken is cooked well. I like to leave it simmering for 1 hour. Add salt to taste and stir well.
8. Best served with coconut rice.

cooking the paste

I hope you enjoy this recipe and this dish. It has a lovely tomato, spicy and sweet flavour to it, definitely one of my favourites!