Ayam Masak Bugis (Indonesian) Buginese Chicken Stew

As a non-Asian, when I started cooking Asian food, it was hard for me to eat plain white rice.  I guess it's still not my favourite, so I usually eat my rice with pickles.  Another way to eat plain rice, probably my favourite, is with curry.  Indian people call "curry" mostly any dish in gravy or sauce, and plenty, PLENTY of sauce on my rice is the way to go, I usually even take a second serving of rice to finish the sauce!

This Indonesian curry might look like nothing, but it impressed me so much, I know I'm bound to cook it again!  Also I'm starting to enjoy a lot the taste of terassi/belachan (dried fermented shrimp paste sold in block, used in Indonesia and Malaysia too I think).

This curry is sooo easy to prepare! The dish itself was only chicken and sauce, but I was kind of too lazy to prepare a vegetable side dish so I added green beans, carrots and white mushrooms to it, and it was delicious.  I served it with some sambal oelek of course.  So here is the recipe for Buginese Chicken Stew from the book Authentic Recipes from Indonesia by Heinz von Holzen and Lother Arsana.

-a chicken, about 1kg/2lbs, cut in 4 or 6  (i used the same weight in legs only)
-4 cups chicken stock from chicken bones of chicken powder
-2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
-12 shallots, thinly sliced
-1tbsp terassi (Indonesian dried shrimp paste), roasted in a piece of aluminum foil in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 400F3200C
-2tbsp tamarind juice (see this post for a how to: http://sunnysdelights.blogspot.ca/2014/06/asem-udang-bakar-sambar-telur-and.html)
-1tsp white pepper
-2 salam leaves (also called Indonesian bay leaves, but if you can't find them like me, use curry leaves which are a closer substitute than bay leaves)
-a cinnamon stick
-4 cloves
-1/4tsp nutmeg
-1tsp salt
-1tsp palm sugar or brown sugar
-1tbsp white vinegar
-1 cup coconut milk (thick if you can find it)
-fried shallots to top if desired (I desired it, I just forgot to put it!)
-some vegetables if you want to make this a whole meal 

Bring the stock to a boil over medium, then add all the ingredients except the chicken, coconut milk and vegetables if using, bring to a boil again and simmer for 5 minutes.  Add the chicken and coconut milk and bring to a boil again, then simmer for 20 minutes, turning the chicken every once in a while.

After 20 minutes, remove the chicken and place in a deep serving plate, (add veggies to the sauce if using) and simmer until (the veggies are cooked and) the sauce is reduced by half, about 10 minutes.  Pour the sauce over the chicken and serve with white rice!