Dada Cooking

Recipes / Malaysian

Malaysian

Ayam Percik (Grilled Chicken with Spiced Coconut Sauce)

Simmer chicken legs briefly, then grill them for 20-25 minutes, basting every 5 minutes with a thick sauce of coconut milk, fried chilli-shallot-lemongrass paste, tamarind and palm sugar, until sticky and charred; about 1 1/2 hours plus marinating for 6.

Ayam percik is a Kelantan and Terengganu favourite: chicken grilled over charcoal and basted again and again with a thick, spicy coconut sauce until the coating turns sticky, orange-red and lightly charred. The sauce is cooked first from coconut milk, a paste of dried chillies, shallots, garlic, ginger and lemongrass, and a little tamarind and palm sugar, so it is rich, sour-sweet and mildly hot. Chicken legs or thighs on the bone stay juicy through the long basting. This version works on a charcoal grill, a grill pan or the oven grill, and is great with plain rice or nasi kerabu.

Three grilled chicken legs coated in a sticky, charred spiced coconut sauce on a white plate, with a small bowl of orange percik sauce, white rice and cucumber slices Start cooking mode

Ingredients

Chicken and marinade

  • 6 chicken legs (thigh and drumstick), about 1.6 kg
  • 1 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp lime juice

Percik sauce

  • 15 dried red chillies, soaked in hot water and seeded
  • 8 shallots, peeled
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 3 cm piece ginger
  • 2 cm piece galangal
  • 2 stalks lemongrass, white part sliced
  • 3 tbsp cooking oil
  • 400 ml coconut milk
  • 2 tbsp tamarind pulp, mixed with 60 ml water and strained
  • 30 g palm sugar (gula melaka), chopped
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp rice flour, mixed with 2 tbsp water

Method

  1. Make 2 deep cuts in each chicken leg down to the bone. Rub with the turmeric, salt and lime juice and leave for 30 minutes, or overnight in the fridge.
  2. Blend the soaked chillies, shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal and lemongrass with 60 ml water to a smooth paste.
  3. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium heat and fry the paste for 8–10 minutes, stirring often, until it darkens and the oil starts to separate.
  4. Stir in the coconut milk, tamarind water, palm sugar and salt. Simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, then stir in the rice flour mixture and cook for 2 minutes more until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon. Taste for salt and sourness.
  5. Put the chicken in a pan with 4 tbsp of the sauce and 120 ml water, cover and simmer for 20 minutes, turning once, so the chicken is almost cooked through before grilling.
  6. Heat a charcoal grill or grill pan to medium, or heat the oven grill to high with the rack 15 cm below it. Grill the chicken for 20–25 minutes, turning it and brushing it with a thick layer of sauce every 5 minutes, until the coating is sticky and charred at the edges and the juices run clear at the bone.
  7. Warm the rest of the sauce and serve it with the chicken, with rice and sliced cucumber.

Tips

  • Oven method: after step 5, roast the chicken at 200°C (400°F) for 25 minutes, brushing with sauce every 8 minutes, then finish under the grill for 3–4 minutes.
  • Heat level: this is medium-hot. Use 8 chillies for a mild version; seeding them takes away most of the heat.
  • Boneless: boneless thighs work too. Skip the simmering in step 5 and grill them for 12–15 minutes.
  • Make ahead: the sauce keeps for 4 days in the fridge, and the chicken can marinate overnight.

Questions

What is ayam percik?

A Kelantan and Terengganu grilled chicken basted with a thick, spicy coconut sauce made from chillies, shallots, lemongrass, tamarind and palm sugar, so the coating turns sticky and lightly charred.

Can I make ayam percik in the oven?

Yes. After simmering, roast the chicken at 200°C (400°F) for 25 minutes, brushing with sauce every 8 minutes, then finish under a hot grill for 3-4 minutes.

Why simmer the chicken before grilling?

It cooks the chicken most of the way through, so it only needs a short time on the grill to take on the sauce and char without drying out or burning.

How spicy is ayam percik?

This version is medium-hot. Use 8 dried chillies instead of 15 for a mild sauce; seeding them removes most of the heat.

Is this ayam percik halal?

The recipe is pork-free and lists no alcohol. It is not halal-certified: use halal-certified chicken and check the labels on the coconut milk and palm sugar.

A Dada Cooking original recipe. Quantities are metric first, with US amounts in brackets.