Method
Trim any fat from the chicken filletsand cut into 6 cm (2 1/2 in) pieces..
blend the onions, garlic, lemon grass, sambal oelek and tumeric together in a food processor or mortar and pestle to form a paste.. Heat the oil on medium heat in a wok and saute the blended paste and shrimp paste until aromatic.. (*2-3 minutes).. Add the chicken and kaffir lime leaves and stir fry until the chicken has browned.. (*5-8 minutes)- maybe more..
Add the coconut milk and the assam glugor pieces, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes or until the chicken has cooked.. Add the coconut cream and cook until the liquid has reduced and is thick and aromatic.. (* 10-15 minutes)..
Pour onto a serving dish and garnish with spring onions (scallions), lime leaves or zest..
I served this with plain Basmati rice, next time I will probably boil the rice in coconut milk or chicken stock and add a few sambals..

* Notes: Asian onions are like the red shallots, I used a couple more.. Sambal oelek, I still had some freshly made left and added some sweet chilli paste (from the Chilli Man range-see below).. Shrimp paste (Belcan)-decided the family was not ready for the real stuff (dried, smells awful but tastes great)and used some Malaysian tinned shrimp paste.. Assam glugor-is thin sliced tamarind, I used seedless Tamarind brick.. I used some Lime leaves from the garden as a garnish at the end and would use lime zest next time.. I would cut the chicken marginally smaller.. This recipe probably serves 4 with rice..
Allmeasurements are metric and imperial - US sizes will vary slightly, but heck "just wing it"..

Funny thing my family claimed it made their eyes water just from the smell of it cooking, may have been the paste frying that went through the air?

The dish was not overly hot, could have used more colour (maybe Byron can tell us which filters the photographers use to take food photos for books and magazines, then we can all get a set of coloured glasses)

From: The book Makan-Lah! : The True Taste of Malaysia (This book is currently out of print)
Posted By: Luke Speer, lukasz@midcoast.com.au
Post Date: Sat, 17 Jul 1999