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Coconut Sambal Chicken With Rice
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- Total Time
- 30 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
- 3 to 5dried chiles de árbol, stemmed and seeded
- 3ounces cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (about ½ cup)
- 1cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1⅓cups finely chopped shallots
- ½cup unsweetened coconut milk, stirred
- 2tablespoons lime juice, plus lime wedges for serving
- 1teaspoon granulated sugar
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal) and black pepper
- ¼cup neutral oil, such as safflower or canola
- 1½pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 3garlic cloves, minced
- 1tablespoon minced fresh ginger
- ¼cup chopped cilantro
- Cooked short-grain rice, for serving
Preparation
- Step 1
In a food processor, combine chiles and tomatoes, and pulse, scraping down the side and bottom of the bowl, until coarsely chopped. Add shredded coconut, ⅓ cup of the shallots, ¼ cup of the coconut milk, the lime juice, sugar and ½ teaspoon salt. Pulse, scraping down the bowl as needed, until well blended and a coarse paste forms, adding a tablespoon of water if the mixture is dry. Transfer mixture to a bowl and season to taste with salt. Let stand to allow flavors to meld while the chicken cooks.
- Step 2
In a 12-inch nonstick skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over medium-high. Add half of the chicken, season generously with salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Cook the remaining chicken.
- Step 3
Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and 1 cup shallots, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly golden, about 2 minutes. Add garlic and ginger, and stir until fragrant, 1 minute. Add the remaining ¼ cup coconut milk, the chicken and any accumulated juices, and cook, stirring occasionally, until chicken is just cooked through and sauce is reduced and thickened, 5 to 8 minutes. Turn off heat and stir in half of the cilantro; season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Step 4
Divide chicken among bowls and top with some of the coconut sambal. Garnish with the remaining cilantro and serve with rice and lime wedges for squeezing over the chicken.
Private Notes
Cooking Notes
Nope, Sri Lankan here; this sambol requires very few ingredients (at least how I grew up making it). As for the chicken, yeah it seems a little under-seasoned but I think the chef wants the sambol to be the star of the dish :)
Just make it as is, people. It's great.
There are many ways to make Pol Sambal and some people do use tomatoes. I do not. As for the coconut, the next best thing to fresh grated coconut is frozen grated coconut which is readily available in NYC (Asian grocery stores carry Indian and Thai brands but many supermarkets stock the Goya product which is fine). I grind shallots, rock salt, peppercorns and dried chilies into a paste and mix in the grated coconut. Add lime juice and more salt to taste and mix well (with hand).
I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but am surprised that, if it’s a Sri Lankan recipe, it has literally no spices in it. No turmeric, coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, nothing?
This is also killer with shrimp as the protein - delicious
We substituted 3 large dried poblano peppers for the chiles de arbol, and used coconut cream instead of coconut milk - delicious!
The taste of the sambal is excellent, however, I don't think the coconut milk is necessary. It made the sambal watery. One of the suggestions below about using frozen fresh coconut is a good one. I think if I had done that, I would have gotten a better consistency on the Sambal. Otherwise, very tasty!
Think this should be touted as "Sri Lankan Coconut Sambal Chicken with Rice" in the header and in newsletters!
This recipe is incredible, so aromatic! One thing I did wrong was use about double the cilantro and I blended it with some of that sambol paste and put that in with the chicken after turning off the heat. The orange of the sambol with the green of the cilantro was a little brown in color, but still so delicious and easier than plucking off all the little cilantro leaves. Thank you for the delicious recipe!
Can someone clarify at which point we add the sauce we make in the processor? Not easy to follow
Looks like it's a garnish at the end. Read the first sentence of Step 4.
For the unsweetened coconut milk- am I to use coconut milk from a can, or coconut milk from a box?
The chicken instructions were kind of confusing. Not sure why they had to be cooked in two batches because the whole amount of chicken could fit into the pan. Also, I wasn't sure if I was supposed to take the second half of the chicken out of the pan after it cooked or if I was supposed to season it when it went in. There could definitely be more cilantro than 1/4 cup. Took us about an hour and a half to make because of the prep work. But overall, we enjoyed it!
Just make it as is, people. It's great.
There are many ways to make Pol Sambal and some people do use tomatoes. I do not. As for the coconut, the next best thing to fresh grated coconut is frozen grated coconut which is readily available in NYC (Asian grocery stores carry Indian and Thai brands but many supermarkets stock the Goya product which is fine). I grind shallots, rock salt, peppercorns and dried chilies into a paste and mix in the grated coconut. Add lime juice and more salt to taste and mix well (with hand).
I haven’t tried the recipe yet, but am surprised that, if it’s a Sri Lankan recipe, it has literally no spices in it. No turmeric, coriander, cumin, fennel, fenugreek, nothing?
Nope, Sri Lankan here; this sambol requires very few ingredients (at least how I grew up making it). As for the chicken, yeah it seems a little under-seasoned but I think the chef wants the sambol to be the star of the dish :)
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