Fried Tamarind Chicken with Sambal and Turmeric Rice

From Spice by Christine Manfield page 150

Some of the best fried chicken I've had. The marinade is very dark in colour due to the tamarind so probably a colour you don't usually see on chicken but great flavour.

Once I fried the chicken it went quite dark compared to how it looked when I boiled it. Not sure if I didn't get enough of the marinade off or if I cooked it too hot or too long but it still tasted good.

I did cheat a little bit with this one - the sambal is not home made but rather from a jar...

Happy cooking!

Turmeric Rice

From Spice by Christine Manfield page 213

I didn't quite have a banana leaf to wrap this in so it had to go in a bowl. Mind you now that Mrs Underground Cook has aquired and planted a couple of banana trees I might do that next time.

I've never infused that much turmeric into anything at one time. It gave off an amazing musky smell while it was simmering in the stock. Later I realised why they call it a spice. The turmeric in the rice gave me a slight chilli-like tingle on the tongue.

It seems important to stir the rice as it's cooking as the recipe mentioned. Here you're really 'cooking' the rice, not just getting it to absorb the water. I think those little grains find it harder to absorb the liquid when it contains all that coconut milk.

Could possibly have had more rice to liquid ratio as it did seem a little over cooked or wet but it was still great.

Happy cooking!