While I adore Malaysian street food, I cannot deny that many are not good for health if eaten excessively. But I’m a greedy person. I want to enjoy my Malaysian food and yet maintain my good health. So I always find ways to make my favourite Malaysian food healthier.
Malaysian Spiced Fried Chicken, or Ayam Goreng Berempah in Malay, is something I make very often. I teach the recipe along with nasi lemak at my cooking class. The result? Sometimes, I eat it almost every day!
So I came up with a healthier version of it. This is one of my proudest inventions. I even shared this recipe with Nicol David in our Cook Off Challenge. Check out my Youtube video tutorial to see how I do it!
HOW IS IT HEALTHY?
- BAKED Insted of deep-frying it in oil, I bake it
- COATED WITH SEEDS To get the crispy texture, instead of coating it in breadcrumbs, I coat it in seeds
- SPICES I use a lot of powdered spices including turmeric
- NO OIL I don’t use any oil. Sometimes I like to good oil e.g 1 tbsp of coconut oil
TOOLS
- AirFryer/ Oven
- Blender
- Knife + chopping board
RECIPE CARD
Healthy Malaysian Fried Chicken With Lemongrass & Curry Leaves
Ingredients
- Spices for chicken
- Chicken leg / chop, deboned - 1 piece
- Curry powder - 1/2 tablespoon
- Chili powder - 1/2 tablespoon
- Turmeric powder - 1/2 tablespoon
- Coriander powder - 1 tbsp
- Cumin powder - 1 tsp
- Garlic powder - 1 tsp
- Ginger powder - 1 tsp
- Fine sea salt - 1 tsp
- Coating
- 1 lemongrass
- 3/4 cup of sunflower seeds
- 2 sprigs of curry leaves
Directions
- Step 1 PREP: Chop chicken into four pieces. Whisk egg. In a bowl, mix breadcrumbs, smashed lemongrass, and curry leaves. Blend coriander and cumin
- Step 2 MARINADE: Mix all the spices in a large bowl. Put in chicken and coat thoroughly. If you have the time, marinade it for 30 minutes. You can also leave it overnight. If you don’t, it’s okay.
- Step 3 COATING: Dip marinated chicken in whisked egg. Then coat the chicken in the mixture of sunflower seeds, lemongrass, and curry leaves
- Step 4 FRY: Fry in the Airfryer at 200°C for 10 mins.
SHORT RECIPE
With a bit of tweaks, it’s possible to make our favourite food healthier.
Do try it and let me know how you like it!