Chciken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Chicken sate or chicken satay is a skewered barbeque chicken served mainly with a spicy peanut sauce. Flavoured with lemongrass and galangal, this chicken sate is tremendously easy to make.

 Chicken Sate is very much like kebabs, but with unique Asian flavours. They get their bright yellow colour from the turmeric. Traditionally the peanut sauce is made with roasted crushed peanuts but lots of recipes go for the peanut butter. Peanut butter gives the sauce a very overwhelming peanut butter taste and smell which kind of kills the actual flavour of the recipe. Besides the peanuts add a beautiful crunch to it, which complements the sate perfectly.

Blend all the ingredients required for the chicken marinade.

Cut the chicken breasts into thin strips.

Rub the marinade over the chciken strips and keep them to marinate overnight.

Heat oil and add the prepared paste of onions, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, dry red chillies, salt and oil.

Fry the paste until they become completely dry and the oil starts to separate. Add the tamarind paste.

Add the crushed peanuts.

Add water, salt and let it come to a boil.

Simmer until the sauce thickens.

Thread 2 strip of chicken to a bamboo skewer.

Place the skewers on a very got griddle pan.

Fry the skewered chicken from all the sides, until they become party charred.

Chicken Satay with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Serves 3-4

Ingredients:

For the chicken satay:

4 large chicken breasts

1 small onion – chopped

2 green chillies – finely chopped

2 stalks of lemongrass (white part only) – finely chopped

4 cloves of garlic

2 tsp turmeric

½ tsp cumin seeds

½ tsp coriander seeds

½ inch stick of ginger root

2 tbsp sugar

½ tsp salt

3 tbsp oil

4-5 bamboo skewers

For the peanut sauce:

1 cup roasted peanuts – crushed

1 small onion – chopped

3 cloves of garlic

½ inch ginger root

1 stalk of lemongrass (white parts only) – chopped

4-5 dry red chillies

1 tbsp tamarind paste soaked in 3 tbsp hot water

1 tbsp oil

Salt

Method:

Make the Satay:

Take all the ingredients listed under chicken satay.

Throw in the onions, ginger, garlic, green chillies, lemongrass and oil in a blender.

Blend them until smooth. Scrap the paste into a bowl.

Dry roast the cumin seeds and coriander seeds in a skillet for a minute and then grind them into a fine powder.

Mix this spice to the prepared paste.

Add in the turmeric powder, sugar and salt.

Cut the chicken breasts into long thin strips.

Rub the marinade over the chicken strips and leave them overnight in an airtight container or ziplock bag for 2-4 hours or preferably overnight.

Take the bamboo skewers and soak them in water for 10-12 minutes. Then take them out of the water and keep aside.

Take the chicken strips and thread them into the skewer.

Heat the griddle pan and let it heat up for a minute or until when you place the skewer on the pan it makes a hissing sound.

Fry the skewed chicken from both sides, basting often with oil / melted butter, until the chicken strips are partly charred.

Make the peanut sauce:

Take the onions, lemongrass, garlic, ginger, dry red chillies, salt and sugar in a blender. Blend them until smooth.

Heat the oil in a saucepan and add the prepared paste into it.

Fry the paste until all the moisture evaporates and the oil starts to ooze out of it.

Add the roasted and crushed peanuts and the tamarind paste water.

Stir to mix.

Add 1 and ½ cup of water to this paste and let it come to a boil.

Add salt for the seasoning.

Simmer until the sauce thickens and switch off the flame.

Serve the chicken satay immediately with the spicy peanut sauce, some more crushed peanuts, cubed cucumbers and pickled onions.