Sundanese Roast Chicken with A Twist

This second recipe also comes from Petty Elliott, an accomplished cookbook writer and now guest chef to many prestigious dining events around the world. Petty’s passion is in exploring seasonal, modern Indonesian cuisine. Did you try cooking up her 'Ikan Pepes' dish?

With Easter seeing many people cook up a roast - be it chicken, beef or lamb - this week we share a roast recipe which has been given a special Indonesian twist! "Ayam Panggang ala Sunda", as Chef Petty calls it, is a spicy and aromatic take on your traditional roast chicken, with lots of rich Indonesian herbs giving this dish a spicy kick!

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Traditionally, this chicken is cooked twice. First, the chicken is simmered to make it tender, and then it is placed on the barbecue. I have opted to oven-bake the chicken in order to simplify the preparation method while still retaining the authentic flavour.

Serves 4

• Whole chicken (approx 1.5kg)
• 6 cloves of garlic, unpeeled
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons vegetable or canola oil

For the Paste:
• 6 shallots, peeled and sliced roughly
• 2 cloves of garlic, peeled and chopped roughly
• 6 red curly chilies (or as you prefer)
• 8cm ginger, peeled and chopped roughly
• 1 tablespoon coriander seeds
• 2 candle nuts
• 1 teaspoon palm sugar or brown sugar
• Salt to season

(1) Preheat the oven to 170ºC.
(2) To make the paste, grind all the paste ingredients (excluding the salt) using a pestle and mortar. If you don't have one, you can use a blender. Once blended, season with salt and set aside.
(3) Using kitchen scissors, cut along the backbone of the chicken, then press firmly on the breastbone to flatten it. Place it on a baking dish.
(4) Mix together salt, black pepper and the life juice: Season the whole chicken with this seasoning.
(5) Lift the skin of the chicken away from the meat and evenly spread the paste you made directly onto the meat itself. Then unfold the skin so that it is placed normally back on the meat.
(6) Brush the chicken with oil and put in the oven and cook for 45 minutes or until cooked through.

Traditionally servied with steamed brown or white rice, mixed raw vegetables (otherwise known as 'Lalapan', below), and sambal chilli paste.

Add some 'Lalapan' raw vegetables to eat the way Indonesians do!

• 4 small carrots, washed, peeled and cut into halves
• 3 medium cucumbers, washed in mineral water, quartered
• Small white cabbage, washed and cut into small wedges
• 2 tomatoes cut into wedges
• A small bunch of long beans (snake beans) or baby French beans, washed and dried
• A small bunch local basil (kemangi), washed and dried
To eat: dip into a chilli relish (sambal) for maximum flavours!

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