Indonesian Chicken Rendang Curry

So if you have read the My Birthday Celebration post, you will know what I am talking about in the next few lines.

I wanted to thank my hubby for making my birthday a fabulous one and so I thought of making an Indonesian style chicken curry and chicken satay with peanut sauce! Near our apartment complex, we have a mall named 'The Grove' and a Farmer's Market next to it. The Farmer's market has variety of food booths, right from Brazilian BBQ to Japanese Sushis and South-East Asian Curries. We are frequent visitors to the Farmer's Market for buying produce or poultry or the hand-made ice cream... yummm!

Few weeks ago, we visited the Banana Leaf booth for Malaysian/Indonesian/Indian cuisine. It smelled very good and tasted better. I took the chicken rendang curry and the taste of that curry still lingers in my mouth. It has a special taste and aroma of coconut and star anise. They are so dominant, that it won't taste the same without those ingredients. So I decided to try making it by looking up few recipes online for beef rendang. People in Indonesia usually eat this curry with beef but because I do not eat beef, I used chicken.

Ingredients: 
Chicken - 2LB
Desiccated coconut - 1 cup
Cloves - 3
Cardamom - 3
Cinnamon - 2 inch long
Star Anise - 3 flowers
Lemon Grass - 2, Pounded
Coconut Milk/Cream - 1.5 cups / 1cup
Tamarind Pulp - 2 tspn
Kaffir Lime Leaves - 6 (I used Lemon zest instead)
Sugar - 1tspn
Salt to taste

Paste:
Onion - 1, finely chopped
Ginger - 2 inch
Garlic - 6 cloves
Lemon Grass - 1 stalk
Frozen Coconut - 2 tbspn
Dry Red Chillies - 10-12

Procedure: 

1. Roast the desiccated coconut till it is brownish in color.
2. Now add some oil to another pan and add the cloves, star anise, and cinnamon and fry for 30-60 secs. Now add the paste and stir-fry for 4-5mins (till oil starts separating).
3. Add the chopped and pounded lemon grass and chicken and stir-fry till meat is rarely cooked.
4. Now add the coconut milk and sugar and let it cook for 10mins. Once the curry starts getting thicker, add 1/2 cup of water and kaffir lime leaves, desiccated coconut and tamarind juice. 
5. Now let the chicken cook in the curry for 1.5 hours and let the curry dry up/thicken so that you get the right consistency. 
6. Serve the curry with naan/roti kanai or steaming hot rice.

Variations: 
If you do not find star anise in the market, you can use fennel seeds although there would be a difference in taste.

Conclusion:
the chicken rendang curry was a big hit and we ate it for 2 days. It just got better with time.