Recipe Ayam Golek - Best chicken ever!!

When I was young, chicken was something served to us during weddings and other festivals or celebrations. It was not like today when you could get to eat chicken every other day provided you are not sick of eating it. It was very expensive then as there was no mass production of anything.
My grandfather used to rear some chickens but they would die of diseases, or were killed by snakes or iguano (biawak) or foxes (musang).
Back then the chicken we ate were either what my grandfather used to rear around the compund of the house or purchased from one of the villagers. Eating chicken or beef or mutton was in itself a celebration!

My favourite chicken recipe then was the 'ayam golek' which we could only hope to get if a wedding party included it as part of the 'hantaran' or wedding gifts exchanged before a wedding. That is, if you were a part of the bride or the groom's family receiving it.

I did not realise that the best cook for ayam golek was my own grandmother. She never cooked the dish before then.I was really surprised to see her cooking that as part of my 'hantaran' or wedding gift to my husband's family. What a great honour!
Thankfully she cooked extra for our family to eat too, he,he.

Here is the recipe:

Ayam Golek
**(You need a deep wok for this).

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken
5 cloves garlic
4-6 cups thick coconut milk if chicken is big ( I have tried using plain yogurt - tasted good too)
4 shallots (small onions)
3-4 fresh chillies (use the dried chillies if you like it hot)
1 tsp coriander seeds
2 tbs tamarind pulp
3 hard-boiuled eggs
Salt and pepper to taste

Method:
1. Clean the chicken well and drain
2. Pound or grind the chillies, coriander seeds, garlic and onions ( follow the order if you pound)
3. Slice the chicken liver and gizzards finely and mix with a tbsp of the ground ingredients
4. Chop the hard-boiled eggs roughly. Add to the mixture
5. Stuff the mixture into the chicken and sew the opening (otherwise everything will slide out of the chicken when it is boiling)
6. Add the tamarind juice, salt and pepper to the coconut milk.
7. Add the remaining ground ingredients
8. Boil the chicken in the mixture until the oil surfaces or until the sauce is thick enough to cover the chicken.
9. Take the chicken out of the pot and grill it until tender.
10. Mix with the remaining sauce and serve with rice.
11. Yum yum!!

I hope you like it too.

This should serve 6-8 people if you eat with rice.
Otherwise reduce the number of people you invite, or cook 1 more chicken