Ayam limau purut is a very typical Malay or Nyonya recipe. It’s fragrant, a little spicy and fairly rich, reminiscent of the king of all our curries – rendang!
Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
What’s in a Name?
To the non locals: I have sooo many chicken recipes on SMR that the word ayam should be a part of your vocabulary by now! So let’s take a look at our recipe name, shall we?
- ayam = chicken
- limau = lemon or lime
- limau purut = kaffir lime
- Ayam Limau Purut = literally, chicken kaffir lime
So chicken with kaffir lime leaves.
Ayam Limau Purut Recipe
It’s a very easy curry to cook, but you do need to have access to the local ingredients used in the recipe. Otherwise, it’s just not going to be the same. We’ll look at the ingredients in detail below. This is what we’ll be doing to cook our ayam limau purut:
- Soak the dried chillies
- Grind up the aromatics to make our rempah (spice paste), including our dried chillies from above.
- Start cooking by frying the spice paste.
- Everything goes in and we cook until the chicken is done, 20 – 30 minutes, depending on what portions you are using.
That’s all there is to it.
Ingredients
Let’s take a look at some of the ingredients used in our recipe today.
Chicken
I’ve given the weight of the chicken needed. You can use whatever portions you like, and make it boneless if you prefer. I’m using chicken thighs, as I find the darker meat much tastier than bland chicken breast.
Kaffir Lime Leaves
Kaffir lime leaves are easily identifiable by their double leaves. They are an essential ingredient throughout South East Asia and used extensively in many of our dishes, from curries to soups to stir-fries and salads. They are citrusy and sharp and a touch bitter in flavour.
We only use about 6 kaffir lime leaves to make ayam limau purut, but they are essential. Here in the UK, they are easily available fresh in our larger supermarkets. If you only have access to dried ones, double up on the amount.
Can’t get kaffir lime leaves? Grate the zest of 2 limes at the end of cooking time.
The Spice Paste (Rempah)
Our aromatic spice paste is responsible for much of the flavour in ayam limau purut, with lemongrass, galangal and turmeric playing a big part in the fragrance. Click the links below to read up more on galangal and how to use lemongrass.
Besides the above, we’ve got the usual onion, garlic and chillies. But dried chillies in this instance. You’ll find that dried red chillies are almost always present in spice pastes in Malay and Nyonya cooking. Can you use fresh instead? Sure you can, they’ll be missing a little depth that the dried ones have, but you’ll still get a delicious curry.
How spicy your dried chillies are will affect the final heat level of your ayam limau purut. So bear that in mind. You can also use less than the amount in the recipe card below.
Tamarind
Tamarind, as you may know, is a souring agent. It’s used in many cuisines around the world, not just in Asia. Click here to read more about it and how to use it.
If you have difficulty finding it where you are, substitute it with either clear vinegar or some lime juice. I only suggest lime juice as a tamarind substitute when citrus is called for in a recipe, otherwise, the plain old vinegar is your best bet.
How to serve Ayam Limau Purut?
Like you would many other curries. This chicken with lime leaves is great as a part of most South East Asian meals. On its own, serve it with rice and either a side salad or a side vegetable dish, like the suggestions below.
It even goes well with many forms of roti, be that parata, chapati or baguette. In fact, I usually have leftovers for lunch the next day with some fresh bread.
Vegetable Sides
How long will it Keep?
Stored in an airtight container, Ayam Limau Purut will keep in the fridge for up to 2 days. You can also freeze it, but your chicken will probably be on the falling apart side once re heated.
And now, shall we get cooking?
If you enjoy the recipe, drop me a comment and let me know. And if you are feeling like a star, don’t forget that 5-star rating! Thank you!
If you make this recipe, post it on Instagram and tag me @azlinbloor and hashtag it #linsfood.
Lin xx
More Chicken Recipes
Ayam Limau Purut
Ingredients
- 750 g chicken portions on the bone 500g/1.1 lb boneless
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 500 ml very hot water for soaking chillies and tamarind just put the kettle on, you'll not need all of it
- 2 heaped Tbsp tamarind pulp or 2-3 Tbsp shop bought paste, depending on the strength
- 1 lemongrass
- 125 ml coconut milk
- ¼ cup water or more for a wetter curry
- 6 kaffir lime leaves
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 – 2 Tbsp fresh lime juice half – 1 lime
Spice Paste (Rempah)
- 20 dried red chillies
- 1 medium onion about 120 – 150g (4-5 oz) pre peeled weight
- 5 medium cloves garlic
- 5 stalks lemongrass 6 if they're on the thin side, or 4 tsp shop bought paste
- 5 cm galangal or 2 tsp shop bought paste
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
Instructions
Soak the Chillies
- Put the kettle on. Then, using a pair of scissors, cut the chillies up into 2-3 pieces, straight into a bowl.
- Pour the hot water onto the cut chillies, leaving a little for the tamarind below. Cover with a side plate and leave to soak for at least 15 minutes, while you get everything else ready.
Soak and Prep the Tamarind
- Place the tamarind pulp into a small bowl and pour the hot water over it, ensuring that it's covered. Leave it aside until you need it during cooking.
- When it's time to use it, all we're going to do is mash the now soft pulp with our fingers, grab the pulp, seeds and any fibre and throw them away.Then we'll just pour the tamarind juice over the sambal. You could strain it, but it has to be a medium mesh strainer, so you don't miss out on all the good stuff.Click here to read up on how to use tamarind.
Make the Spice Paste
- Peel the onion and quarter it.Peel the garlic.Top and tail the 6 lemongrass stalks and thinly slice 5 of them in rings.Bruise the other one and set aside, don't add it to the food chopper.Scrape the galangal skin off and slice into thin rings.Click here for how to prepare lemongrass for its various uses.Or watch me showing it on YouTube.Place everything into a food chopper, except for the bruised lemongrass.
- Drain the soaking dried chillies and give them a quick rinse, shaking out the seeds if you want to. Tip the drained chillies into a blender.
- Add the turmeric powder to the chopper too. Chop everything until you have a fairly fine paste. Don't worry too much about the odd piece of chilli.
Let's get Cooking
- Heat the oil on medium heat in a wok or saucepan and fry the spice paste and bruised lemongrass for 2 minutes until fragrant.
- Add the chicken portions and coat them with the spice paste.
- Pour in the coconut milk, water and tamarind juice. Tear the lime leaves once on each side and drop 4 of them into the wok/saucepan, along with the salt.Mix well and bring to a simmer.
- Cover and cook for 30 minutes until the chicken is done. Boneless chicken will only need 20 minutes, chicken legs will need 45 minutes.Add the last 2 kaffir lime leaves 5 minutes before the end of cooking time.
- Check seasoning and add more salt if necessary. Turn the heat off and finish with stirring in the lime juice. How much lime juice is up to you. Add 1 Tbsp, taste and add more if you like. I use all of it.Leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving hot.
