isithalal.food

Halal-conscious recipe

Gulai ayam with Halal chicken

Rahel Stephanie's gulai ayam, an Indonesian chicken curry: Halal chicken thighs simmered in a bumbu paste of shallot, garlic, chilli, ginger, galangal and candlenut with whole spices, tamarind, coconut sugar and coconut milk.

  • Cuisine Indonesian
  • Meal Main
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Yield 6 portions
  • Time 55 min
  • Last updated

Each method follows published technique for the dish, and every Halal substitution is checked against the ingredient pages we cite. Photographs come from our ingredient library rather than the finished dish.

Printable view
Chicken korma in a creamy yellow sauce over white rice on a blue-rimmed plate, with a dish of korma and a basket of naan behind
Photograph of chicken korma by Bev Sykes (CC BY 2.0), not the finished dish from this recipe.

Photo: Bev Sykes · CC BY 2.0

Why Halal checks matter here

The curry is made with 12 bone-in chicken thighs, which are Halal only from Halal-slaughtered birds.

Gulai ayam is an Indonesian chicken curry built on a bumbu, a blended paste of garlic, shallots, red chillies, ginger, galangal and candlenuts. The paste is fried with lemongrass, lime leaves and whole and ground spices, then the chicken simmers in it with coconut sugar, tamarind and coconut milk. The chicken is the only thing to check: it needs to come from a Halal butcher or a certified pack.

It follows Rahel Stephanie's gulai ayam for BBC Good Food, which serves six with steamed rice. The source suggests Indonesian coconut palm sugar if you can find it, or ordinary coconut sugar.

For other Indonesian dishes on this site, see rendang and satay.

Halal-critical ingredients

  • Chicken thighs Chicken is a Halal bird, but slaughter decides, and chicken without a Halal mark doesn't say how the bird was slaughtered. Buy the chicken from a Halal butcher or in a certified pack. See Chicken.

Safe substitutes

  • Chicken thighs of unknown slaughter → Halal bone-in chicken thighs

Allergens

nuts (candlenuts or macadamias)

Ingredients

Chicken

  • 12 Halal bone-in chicken thighs
  • 1 lime, juiced

Bumbu (spice paste)

  • 4 garlic cloves, peeled
  • 3 banana shallots (or 6 small Asian shallots), peeled
  • 3–4 large red chillies, trimmed
  • 2½ cm piece ginger, peeled
  • 1 cm piece galangal, peeled
  • 5 candlenuts or macadamia nuts

Curry

  • 2 tbsp rapeseed, sunflower or vegetable oil
  • 3 lemongrass stalks, bruised and tied together
  • 6 lime leaves, torn
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 3 cardamom pods, seeds crushed
  • 1 star anise
  • 2 tsp ground coriander
  • ½ tsp each ground nutmeg, cumin and turmeric
  • 50 g coconut palm sugar, or coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp tamarind paste
  • 200 ml water
  • 400 ml coconut milk
  • to serve steamed white rice, to serve

Method

  1. Season the chicken. Put the chicken in a large bowl and season with salt, pepper and the lime juice. Set aside.
  2. Make the bumbu. Blend the garlic, shallots, chillies, ginger, galangal and candlenuts in a medium food processor until smooth.
  3. Fry the spices. Heat the oil in a large saucepan or wok over a medium heat and fry the bumbu with the lemongrass, lime leaves, cinnamon, cardamom, star anise and ground spices for about 5 minutes, until fragrant.
  4. Simmer. Add the chicken and stir to coat it in the spices, cooking for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the coconut sugar, tamarind and 200 ml water, season, and bring to the boil. Turn down to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
  5. Finish with coconut milk. Pour in the coconut milk and simmer for 15 minutes more, until the chicken is cooked. Serve with steamed rice.

How this recipe was researched

Method adapted from BBC Good Food's 'Rahel's gulai ayam (Indonesian chicken curry)' by Rahel Stephanie (serves 6: 12 bone-in chicken thighs seasoned with salt, pepper and the juice of 1 lime; bumbu of 4 garlic cloves, 3 banana or 6 small Asian shallots, 3 to 4 large red chillies, 2½ cm ginger, 1 cm galangal and 5 candlenuts or macadamias blended smooth; the bumbu fried about 5 minutes in 2 tbsp oil with 3 bruised lemongrass stalks tied together, 6 torn lime leaves, a cinnamon stick, the crushed seeds of 3 cardamom pods, 1 star anise, 2 tsp ground coriander and ½ tsp each nutmeg, cumin and turmeric; the chicken stirred in for 2 to 3 minutes, then 50 g coconut palm sugar, 1 tsp tamarind paste and 200 ml water, brought to the boil, covered and simmered 15 minutes; 400 ml coconut milk added and simmered 15 minutes more; served with steamed rice). We specified Halal chicken thighs; nothing else needed changing. Timings follow the published technique rather than a kitchen test.

Technique and ingredient sources

  1. Rahel's gulai ayam (Indonesian chicken curry) — BBC Good Food Retrieved:

    By Rahel Stephanie. Serves 6, prep 15 minutes, cook 40 minutes: chicken thighs with lime, a blended bumbu of garlic, shallot, chilli, ginger, galangal and candlenut fried with whole and ground spices, then simmered with coconut sugar, tamarind, water and coconut milk. We specified Halal chicken.

  2. Chicken analysis — isithalal.food Retrieved:

    What makes chicken Halal: the slaughter.

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