I cooked for another Nasi Lemak party recently.

A good Nasi Lemak is about getting the rice right along with a good sambal, fried anchovies (ikan bilis), roasted peanuts and sliced cucumbers.

I have blogged various posts on this and you can check them out here.

Of course this dish can be made more special for parties with additional dishes. For this particular party, I opted for fried chicken and dry seafood curry.

I will share with you the recipe for the fried chicken or "ayam goreng." Or to be more accurate, just simply what I did accordingly for this party. In the cooking notes, I will explain the reasons for what I did and how I may vary the recipe for other occasions.

Recipe for Ayam Goreng
To serve 10 pax

2 large chickens, cut into about 12-14 pieces

For the marinade:
2T Fennel powder
2T Turmeric powder
2T Coriander powder
2T Ginger powder
1T White Pepper
2T Chilli powder
2T Salt
1 packet of Coconut milk
A glass of water

For coating:
Corn flour
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Black Pepper
Curry leaves

Method
Preparing the Marinade:
In a pan, warm the coconut milk and then add the rest of the ingredients for the marinade. Stir. This step is to ensure that all the flavours and well mixed into the coconut milk. Add in some water. Taste along the way and adjust if you have to. Salty-wise, it should be like seawater. Another way to put is that it should be uncomfortably salty. And with the flavours of the spices, you should have an idea of how eventually your fried chicken will taste like. As for the spices, I will normally toast and blend from seeds. If you can get it fresh from the wet market stall, as I did for this party, using powders will work.

Marinate it for 4 hours at least.

Coating: Use corn flour with an equal proportion of flavored flour i.e garlic, onion. Add some salt. Taste the flour to get it right. Plain flour will also work if you do not have onion or garlic powder.

Lift the chicken pieces from the marinate and shake off excess moisture. Then coat with the flour mix. I only want a thin coat. I should add that this Ayam Goreng will also be fine without a flour coating. Adding a coat of flour makes the chicken crunchier. Check out this post where I did not add any flour coating.

To fry, heat up the oil in a wok (or a deep pot). Use vegetable or palm oil, or oils suited for deep frying. I normally test whether the oil is hot enough by placing my hand above the oil to feel the heat. If my palm heats up quickly, I know it is ready. Visually, the oil will be shimmering.

Fry the chicken pieces in batches for 5-7 minutes, depending on the size of your pieces. Move them around in the oil occasionally to avoid burnt spots.

Just before serving, give it a quick 1 minute fry again to crisp the chicken further.

Frying and stirring the rempah in the coconut milk

I will recommend that you fry one or two pieces first. Check the taste and texture. If more salt is needed, add them to the flour mix.

An added step is to fry some curry leaves in the oil briefly. The curry leaves can then be used to garnish the chicken and this step will also impart some flavors to the oil.

I marinated about 6 chicken in this box

Other techniques can also be used to make this Ayam Goreng. You can steam the chicken first and then deep fry. You can also Sous Vide it beforehand. If you are using a an enabling device (i.e. Sous Vide Magic or the soon to come Codlo), just cook and marinate the chicken in a rice cooker. Add more water and then dip the temperature probe in and SV away i.e. 72C for 2 hours. Then you deep fry for about 1-2 minutes to crust the exterior.

As for chicken, the larger juicier ones will be good. The wet market stalls will sell fresh and good ones. Say "KFC size" and they will cut it for you.

This may not be a dish you will make regularly but it is great for a party. And I think your family will like it too.

I fry the same parts together to adjust suitable frying time, adding about 1-2 minutes more for thigh meat

Deep frying the chicken