Chicken Satay

 In a couple of weeks I complete almost a quarter of a century of knowing my husband and twenty-two years of having tied the knot :) For me he is the epitome of the kindness and unconditional love. Of late with the boys far away in their respective colleges, we have rekindled some of our earlier hobbies and passions of doing loads of stuff together- For a start we've started holding hands more often...most of the routine I chalk out and he will work out the logistics or make the necessary phone calls. We've got some lovely stuff planned this month and the next. I am EXCITED!!!

Cooking has become so much fun as well and as he works from home, he's started giving himself an early start on his work and tries to finish his writing so that we can head to the gym together. For years I have been on my own at the gym. He has always preferred to exercise at home which includes doing his weights in the comforts of our home or going for real long walks...I love the conscious changes he has made and he's very happy after making a tour of my gym and had his demo class. Phew! Sigh of relief for me.

Being the romantic that I am, just writing all these down makes me miss him more. I feel truly blessed to have him as my companion till death do us apart. And one such romantic escapades of ours was years ago when I joined him on my own( read without my boys!!!!) to the place of his previous work where street food is at its best! And that's my first intro to Satay. There's so many to list out. When I look back, I had chronicled so many crazy things related to food through pics!!!

If it is a well made satay, you would see me almost bashing your door down, I would go to any extend to chew on to some juicy street food Chicken Satay. So here's my version with ingredients that I have sourced from here and there (dry galangal and dry lemon grass). Boneless chicken is taken and cut into long strip as seen in the pics and set aside.

A marinade is made in your blender-depending on the quantity of your chicken, add in chopped galangal, a good amount of dry red chilly paste, dark soy sauce, chopped lemon grass, finely chopped garlic, a handful of sliced shallots, toasted cumin- coriander seeds-turmeric and a tbsp. brown sugar, As this processes, drizzle in some vegetable oil as well which helps to coat the chicken strips later on. To this marinade which has been blended, add a cup of coconut milk and mix well with adequate salt.

Take a bit of the marinade and have a taste. Slide in the strips of chicken that was set aside into this marinade and let the marinated chicken rest in your fridge for an hour or more. Once you take it out, squeeze in some lime juice and toss the chicken mix once more and skewer them like so. It's ok if it is grainy.

 Once skewered, you can barbecue them or do them over an open flame over your gas top as shown in the first pic being careful not to burn yourself. Do ensure that the bamboo skewers were placed in some water for a long while, then used so that they don't catch fire while barbecuing them.

 From time to time do baste them with oil or the same marinade drips which would be left in the vessel they were in. Keep flipping each meat on the skewer as there should be even cooking. and the meat should cook through thoroughly. Eat them piping hot by serving them with peanut sauce which is its rightful partner and accompaniment.

 Peanut sauce-toast your peanuts and allow it to cool, then in a small sauce pan add a tbsp. of sesame oil, add in garlic, fish sauce, cayenne pepper/chilly powder,a tsp. of brown sugar, lime juice, tamarind paste, a bit of soy sauce and once that cools, all goes into the blender along with the cooled toasted peanuts to form a fine sauce. Add a tbsp or more coconut milk, mix well. Do not add salt as the fish sauce/soy sauce has salt. If required do taste if the sweetness and sourness have blended in well with each other.

 Serve them fresh and hot along with lemon wedges or a grilled pineapple.

Looking forward to my wedding anniversary with the father of my children :) and many more years of togetherness.