Gulai Ayam [Recipe]

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Gulai ayam is another Indonesian dish that Max enjoys whenever he eats Nasi Padang.

It is essentially an Indonesian-style chicken curry with a rich, savoury gravy that is commonly found in Sumatra (and closest to Peninsular Malaysia).

We adapted this recipe from Zarina Ibrahim’s Home Cooking book published in the 1990s. We tweaked it from her gulai daging recipe as well as added new ingredients – i.e. shallots, garlic and daun pandan (pandan leaves). This has to be most satisfying dish we’ve cooked during #mco!

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A traditional Indonesian/Minang curry, gulai is slightly different from your regular curry given its yellowish colour due to the addition of turmeric (kunyit). This dish is not overtly spicy but is so flavourful and rich due to the robust paste made of different spices, and marinated with the chicken.

We really loved the flavours of the gulai – it goes very well with rice and roti prata. The kerisik (toasted coconut paste) not only provided fragrance but also a rendang-like texture to the dish!

In fact, a Malay friend commented this recipe is like a hybrid between rendang and curry because of the addition of galangal and kerisik! Its creaminess comes from the santan (coconut milk).

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This recipe is a keeper and we will definitely make this on a regular basis (when the time permits, lol)! Ming can’t take spicy food but she thoroughly enjoyed this rich and creamy dish. 

For videos and step-by-step process, check out our Instagram post here.

Our favourite Padang restaurants in Klang Valley to eat gulai ayam (and other Minang delicacies) include Restoran Nasi Kapau (review here) and Masakan Padang Asli Kampung Baru (review here and here).

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