Kaliya
A Yakan chicken dish from Basilan, cooked with turmeric, lemongrass and coconut, and thickened with toasted ground rice. It is the centrepiece of the dulang platter served at gatherings.
- Time
- 1 hr
- Serves
- 5
- Steps
- 7
- Ingredients
- 10
Method
- 01
Toast the raw rice in a dry pan until golden and nutty, then grind it to a powder. This is the thickener, so do not skip it.
- 02
Fry the ginger, garlic and onion in oil until soft and fragrant.
- 03
Add the turmeric and cook 1 minute, then add the chicken and sear for 5 minutes.
- 04
Pour in the thinner coconut milk with the lemongrass and simmer gently for 25 minutes.
- 05
Keep it below a boil so the coconut milk does not split.
- 06
Stir the ground toasted rice into the thick coconut cream, then add it to the pot. Adding it as a slurry stops it going lumpy.
- 07
Simmer 10 minutes more until the sauce thickens, add the chillies and spring onions, and season with salt.
Cooking Tips
- Grind the toasted rice as finely as you can. Coarse grains leave the sauce gritty rather than silky.
- Add the rice thickener near the end - cooked too long it turns the sauce pasty.
Ingredient Substitutions
- Cornstarch can thicken it in a pinch, but you lose the toasted flavour the rice brings.
- Fresh turmeric can replace ground, at about three times the quantity.
What to Serve With It
- Traditionally served as part of a dulang platter with turmeric rice and fried fish.
Storage and Reheating
- Keeps 3 days. Reheat gently over low heat so the coconut sauce holds together.
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