This Chicken Sambal dish is simmered in coconut and made in one pot. It can be bulked up with lots of flavorful veggies, such as bell peppers, tomatoes and carrots! Best of all, it's on the table in under 30 minutes (if you use skinless, boneless chicken. You can make it with any cut of chicken, but the cooking time will change.)
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⭐ Why This Recipe is a Star
- Made in One Pan: You get protein and veggies all in one pan. If you have a rice cooker, it's so easy to serve up a complete meal!
- Quick: Done in under 30 minutes if you use skinless, boneless chicken!
- Easy: so simple, you can get it right the first time!
What is Sambal?
Sambal is a Southeast Asian condiment, usually made with chili and other ingredients.
There are many different types of sambal. I used Sambal Oelek to make this Coconut Chicken Sambal, but it would work well with Sambal Belacan (contains shrimp paste and more common in Singaporean and Malaysian recipes) as well.
🥘 Ingredients
You will need a few simple ingredients:
- chicken: Traditionally, this recipe would be made with chicken pieces, bone-in, skin-on. You would often have to cut the chicken yourself, which would result in a lot of small and sharp bone flecks, if not skilled. Hence, I use chicken thigh fillets instead. (Boneless and skinless to be healthier.) You can use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or chicken wings too, but the cooking time will change. The recipe would work with chicken breast but I don't recommend it as it's dryer so you would need to be pretty precise with the cooking time. You have more leeway with dark meat!
- vegetable oil: I usuually recommend a neutral vegetable oil for Asian recipes but, in this instance, the aromatics are so full flavored, I use olive oil too.
- coconut milk or cream: 1 Cup coconut cream mixed with 4-6 Tablespoons of water. Make sure you get the unsweetened type.
- sambal oelek: I used my homemade sambal oelek- can be made with mortar and pestle or food processor- but you can also use shopbought chili paste (from the Asian market.)
- fresh garlic: I recommend peeling and smashing them with the back of your knife. Of course, if you are willing to pound the garlic, ginger and shallot (the traditional way), that would taste best! (I don't though!) I have never tested it with garlic powder.
- fresh ginger: No need to peel, just slice, but please don't use ginger powder.
- shallot: peel and slice. You can substitute with ½ a large red onion. Yellow or white would do too but you may want to add a teaspoon or so more sugar as they aren't as sweet.
- fish sauce: I used 2 tablespoons. If you don't have fish sauce, you cood use soy sauce instead,
- soy sauce: We want light soy sauce, not dark, sweet or thick soy sauce!
- brown sugar: Palm sugar is traditional but it comes as a block, which can be a pain to grate into the right quantity. I use the best palm sugar substitute, brown sugar, but white sugar works too.
- white rice vinegar: 1 Tablespoon, can use white wine vinegar
- turmeric: 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of ground turmeric powder gives the curry a much more attractive color.
- lime juice: Cut fresh lime into pieces, then squeeze it over the finished chicken. It makes it so much tastier! I like to use calamansi lime, but Key Limes work too.
- kaffir lime leaves, optional: I know kaffir lime leaf is not the easiest to get, so don't feel worried if you don't have them. You can also add fresh lemongrass. (Also I highly recommend Click & Grow- I review indoor gardening kits here- if you're looking to grow your own herbs! That's what I use!)
- coriander leaves, sliced red chilies, sliced spring onions: optional garnishes. Sambal oelek isn't very spicy- if you grew up eating spice- so you can also garnish with sliced fresh red chilies, if you want.
To make a complete meal, let's add some veggies! They're optional though, so don't stress if you don't have them:
- tomatoes: cut them into 4 wedges, I used regular tomatoes, but you can use cherry tomatoes too. You will need to use less sugar as they're sweet. Just
- bell pepper: de-seeded and sliced into strips
- kale: I enjoy Click & Grow kale with this dish the most!
📖 Variations & Substitutes
This is a really flexible recipe. You can add some tomato paste, use tomato puree instead of coconut etc!
🔪 Step-by-Step Instructions
1a. In a small bowl, mix the sauces (fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar.)
1b. Over medium-high heat, saute the shallots till fragrant. Then add the ginger folowed by the garlic. (Garlic burns easily.)
Note: If using chicken with skin, you can brown the skin first, remove it, then saute the shallot, ginger and garlic in the delicious chicken fat. As my chicken does not have skin, I decided not to brown it, as it would take too much oil.
2. Reduce to medium heat, add the coconut, followed by the mix of sauces, sambal sauce, and kaffir leaves.
Note: be careful with the temperature here as the coconut cream boils very quickly.
3. Add the chicken followed by thr turmeric powder, mix well. Adjust the temperature so the sauce is not an a rolling boil.
Note: If at any time you feel the sauce is too thick (may happen if your fire is too big and you used coconut cream), add a cup of water or chicken broth. (You'll then either need to cook the extra liquid off, or to add more seasoning.)
4a. The chicken will take 15 to 30 minutes to cook, depending on size and temperature of your flame. (The chicken is cooked when the internal temperature of the thickest part is 165°F (74°C.) I recommend using an instant read thermometer. )
4b. You can add the tomatoes and peppers now if you wish, or later if you want them firmer. I add the kale 5 minutes before I want to switch off the fire.
Delicious with plain white rice, brown rice, or pandan jasmine rice!
🥡 How to Store
Curry is one of those dishes in which the gravy tastes even better after reheating! Store any extra in an airtight container for 1-2 days.
Just be careful with the meat. (If you use chicken breast, re-heating may dry it out.) Reheat by bringing back to the boil on the stove, letting it simmer till the chicken is fully heated up. You may need to add a tablespoon of water or two to dilute the sauce.
🥗 Suggested Accompanying Recipes
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Chicken Sambal (One Pot, with Coconut)
Equipment
- 1 Knife and cutting board
- 1 Dutch oven & heat-proof sptaula
- 1 Instant read thermometer
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons cooking oil
- 5 cloves fresh garlic peel and smash
- 1 inch fresh ginger sliced
- 3 shallot Substitute: ½ onion, preferably red
- 3 Tablespoons sugar Traditionally palm sugar but brown sugar or white sugar work too.
- 2 Tablespoons fish sauce Use light soy sauce as a substitute if you don't have it.
- 1 Tablespoon white rice vinegar You can use white wine vinegar
- ½ Tablespoon light soy sauce Don't use dark, sweet or thick soy.
- 2 kaffir lime leaves Crush then add, no need to slice.
- 3-5 Tablespoons sambal oelek Depending on how spicy you want it to be. I used my homemade sambal oelek, but you can also use shopbought (from the Asian market.)
- 1 lb chicken I used boneless, skinless thighs. You can use bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs or chicken wings too. The recipe would work with chicken breast but I don't recommend it as it's dryer so you would need to be pretty precise with the cooking time. You have more leeway with dark meat!
- 1 Cup coconut milk If using coconut milk, omit the water.
- 4 Tablespoons water Substitute: chicken brown
- 1 teaspoons turmeric powder
Veggies
- 3 tomatoes Cut in wedges
- ¼ bell pepper sliced
- 1 small bunch Kale
Garnish
- 3 Lime Cut in half. Do not omit.
- Coriander Optional
- Green onions Sliced, optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix the fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and vinegar.
- Over medium-high heat, saute the shallots till fragrant. Then add the ginger folowed by the garlic. (Garlic burns easily.) Note: If using chicken with skin, you can brown the skin first, remove it, then saute the shallot, ginger and garlic in the delicious chicken fat. As my chicken does not have skin, I decided not to brown it, as it would take too much oil.
- Reduce to medium heat, add the coconut, followed by the mix of sauces, sambal sauce, and kaffir leaves. (Crush the leaves to release their fragrance. No need to cut.)
- Add the chicken followed by the turmeric powder, mix well.
- Adjust the temperature so the sauce is not an a rolling boil.If at any time you feel the sauce is too thick (may happen if your fire is too big and you used coconut cream), add a cup of water or chicken broth. (You'll then either need to cook the extra liquid off, or to add more seasoning.)
- The chicken will take 15 to 30 minutes to cook, depending on size and temperature of your flame. (The chicken is cooked when the internal temperature of the thickest part is 165°F (74°C.)Note: I recommend using an instant read thermometer.)
- You can add the tomatoes and peppers now if you wish, or later if you want them firmer. I add the kale 5 minutes before I want to switch off the fire.
- Delicious with plain white rice, brown rice, or pandan jasmine rice!
Notes
Note: the nutritional information is an estimate automatically calculated using the WPRM recipe maker and I am not responsible for its veracity.
Nutrition
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Dennis says
Your recipe looks delicious, but I was wondering if there were any additional vegetables I could add to the dish.
Zen says
Hi Dennis, thanks for stopping by. Of course you can! You can add carrots (add them with the chicken if you want them to be softer) or tomatoes (for more sweetness but note they will soften and "melt" into the sauce), green beans or more!
Mindy says
This looks really yummy and I want to try it. Is there a brand of sambal oelek that you would recommend? I see multiple kinds on Amazon and can’t decide which one to buy. Thanks!
Zen says
Haha I would actually recommend making your own as it's so easy and you only need chilies, salt and vinegar. (Recipe:https://www.greedygirlgourmet.com/sambal-oelek-chili-paste/ ) However, if you don't have the time, choose the brand which uses mainly these ingredients!)
Carol says
I'm not able to find kaffir leaf in my area and I'm not really sure what it is. What can I use instead?
Zen says
Hi Carol, thanks for stopping by! Kaffir leaf (sometimes called kaffir lime leaf or market leaf in the US) is a herb that is often used in Thai and Southeast Asian cooking to add flavor to recipes. We like to use it fresh but some places sell dried kaffir leaves (not as fragrant.) If you can't get it, I suggest adding lemongrass to the sambal chicken stew or simply omitting the kaffir lime leaf (that's what I did in the UK. I tried lime juice as a substitute once (in a different recipe) but it did NOT go :P) Sometimes lemongrass, lime zest or bay leaf can be used, but it will depend on the other ingredients the recipe calls for! Hope this helps!
Dorene chew says
Hi , instead of fish sauce is there an alternative sauce.
Zen says
Hi Dorene, thanks for stopping by. Instead of fish sauce, you could use light soy sauce or, in the worst case, salt 🙂