Ayam Betutu

Ingredients

• 1 whole chicken, about 1.5 kg
• 12 shallots
• 8 garlic cloves
• 5 cm fresh turmeric
• 4 cm galangal
• 3 cm ginger
• 3 cm kencur (aromatic ginger)
• 8 candlenuts
• 8 large red chillies
• 10 bird's eye chillies
• 1 tsp shrimp paste (terasi)
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 0.5 tsp black peppercorns
• 0.5 tsp white peppercorns
• 2 tsp palm sugar
• 2 tsp salt
• 5 tbsp coconut oil
• 2 stalks lemongrass
• 4 salam leaves
• 300 g cassava leaves or curly kale
• banana leaves, for wrapping
• aluminium foil, for wrapping

Before you cook

• Pat the chicken dry inside and out with kitchen paper.
• Peel the shallots, garlic, turmeric, galangal, ginger and kencur.
• Bruise the lemongrass stalks with the back of a knife.
• Strip the cassava leaves or kale from their stems and shred them coarsely.
• Pass the banana leaves briefly over a gas flame until they turn glossy and pliable.

Steps

1. Blend the shallots, garlic, turmeric, galangal, ginger, kencur, candlenuts, both kinds of chilli, shrimp paste, coriander and both peppercorns into a thick paste.
2. Heat the coconut oil in a wide pan over medium-low heat and add the paste with the bruised lemongrass and salam leaves.
3. Fry the paste slowly for 15 minutes, stirring often, until it turns brick red, smells deeply aromatic and the oil pools at the edges.
4. Stir in the palm sugar and salt, then take the pan off the heat and leave the paste to cool.
5. Bring a pan of salted water to a boil and blanch the shredded leaves for 3 minutes.
6. Drain the leaves, squeeze them dry and toss them with a third of the cooled spice paste.
7. Rub half of the remaining paste all over the outside of the chicken, working it under the skin of the breast where you can.
8. Rub the last of the paste inside the cavity.
9. Pack the spiced leaves firmly into the cavity and tie the legs together with kitchen string.
10. Lay the chicken on two overlapping banana leaves and wrap it into a tight parcel.
11. Wrap the parcel again in two layers of foil so no steam can escape.
12. Set the parcel in a steamer over rapidly boiling water and steam it for 1 hour.
13. Heat the oven to 160C.
14. Transfer the parcel to a roasting tin and roast it for 45 minutes.
15. Open the top of the foil and banana leaf to expose the breast and roast for a final 20 minutes, until the skin is bronzed and the juices run clear.
16. Rest the chicken in its open parcel for 10 minutes before carving.
17. Serve the chicken with the spiced leaves from the cavity and all the juices spooned over steamed rice.