Ayam Buah Keluak

Ingredients

• 14 buah keluak nuts
• 1.2 kg chicken thighs and drumsticks
• 150 g minced pork
• 100 g raw prawns, minced
• 2 tbsp tamarind pulp
• 500 ml water
• 1 tbsp palm sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp salt
• 4 tbsp vegetable oil
• 15 dried chillies
• 12 shallots
• 6 garlic cloves
• 3 cm fresh turmeric
• 3 cm galangal
• 2 lemongrass stalks
• 6 candlenuts
• 2 tsp belacan (shrimp paste)
• steamed rice, to serve

Before you cook

• Scrub the buah keluak hard with a stiff brush and soak them in cold water for three days, changing the water every day.
• Crack open the flat side of each soaked nut with a heavy pestle and dig out the soft black flesh with a small spoon.
• Wash the emptied shells and keep them.
• Squash the tamarind pulp into 500 ml of warm water and strain out the seeds.
• Pound or blend the black keluak flesh with two tablespoons of the tamarind water into a thick, smooth paste.
• Mix half the keluak paste with the minced pork, minced prawn and half a teaspoon of salt.
• Pack the pork mixture back into ten of the empty shells and press it flat.
• Soak the dried chillies in hot water for twenty minutes, then drain them.
• Blend the chillies, shallots, garlic, turmeric, galangal, lemongrass, candlenuts and belacan into a fine paste.

Steps

1. Heat the oil in a large heavy pot over medium-low heat.
2. Add the blended rempah and fry it for twenty minutes, stirring often, until it turns dark and the oil pools around the edges.
3. Add the chicken pieces and turn them through the paste for five minutes, until every piece is coated.
4. Stir in the remaining keluak paste and cook for three minutes.
5. Pour in the tamarind water and scrape the paste off the base of the pot.
6. Bring the pot to a boil, then lower the heat to a slow simmer.
7. Lower the stuffed shells into the gravy, filled side facing up.
8. Cover the pot and simmer for one hour, giving it a gentle shake every twenty minutes.
9. Uncover the pot and simmer for a further thirty minutes, until the gravy is dark, thick and clings to the chicken.
10. Season with the palm sugar and the remaining salt.
11. Taste the gravy and balance it until it reads sour first, then savoury, with only a whisper of sweetness.
12. Rest the curry off the heat for fifteen minutes, or chill it overnight and reheat it, which is better still.
13. Serve with steamed rice, and show anyone new to the dish how to scoop the black flesh from the shells with a small spoon.