You gotta try this incredibly delicious ayam bakar bumbu rujak made with amazingly aromatic spices, herbs, and cooked in coconut milk and then grilled to perfection. It can be cooked on the stove or pressure cooker.
Ayam bakar bumbu rujak is a popular chicken dish in the west and central Java in Indonesia. Rujak in Indonesian language means “mixture”. There are many different types of sauce used for rujak. This recipe calls for “bumbu rujak”. Bumbu rujak used spices like candlenuts/kemiri, shallots, garlic, galangal, turmeric, lemongrass, chili, tamarind, salt, coconut sugar and aromatic herbs like lemongrass, bay leaves, and kaffir lime leaves. The mixture almost similar to Indonesian famous rendang Padang, but a bit less complicated.
HOW TO MAKE AYAM BAKAR BUMBU RUJAK (WITH PRESSURE COOKER OR ON THE STOVE)
1. PREPARE THE SPICE PASTE
Place all ingredients to grind in a food processor and grind into a paste.
2. STIR FRY THE PASTE AND HERBS
Press saute mode. When it’s hot, add 2 Tbsp cooking oil. Add the spice paste you grind earlier. Stir fry until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the fresh herbs and tamarind juice you prepared earlier, stir fry for another minute.
3. ADD COCONUT CREAM THEN CHICKEN
Add coconut cream and seasonings and use a spatula to make sure you scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing gets stuck or it will trigger a “burn” warning later if you cook with Instant Pot. Turn off saute mode. Add the chicken pieces. Give it a stir one last time.
If cooking on the stove: lower the heat to let it simmers uncovered for the next 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is reduced and thickened with some oil ooze out from the coconut cream.
If cooking with Instant Pot: close the lid. Turn the steam release valve to “sealing”. Set the pressure cooker on “high” pressure”. Set timer o 15 minutes and then release pressure immediately after.
4. TRANSFER THE CHICKEN OUT
Use a tong to transfer the chicken out from onto a baking sheet lined with an aluminum foil.
If you cook with Instant Pot: there will be more “liquid” when cooking with Instant Pot because the liquid doesn’t evaporate during cooking, so we need to reduce the sauce by evaporating the liquid
Press on saute mode again and let the sauce cooks further until the liquid evaporates and the sauce is thick. I use a glass lid to partially cover to let liquid evaporates and at the same time the sauce won’t splatter everywhere (because we can’t control the high and low of the saute mode)
This is how it looks like after the liquid is reduced and the sauce is thick and oil has separated
5. GRILL THE CHICKEN
Brush the chicken pieces with the thick sauce. Turn on the broiler in your oven to low. Place the baking sheet inside the oven top rack and let the chicken pieces broiled on low until nicely golden brown and slightly charred.
Do not walk away during this process. Alternatively, you can always grill on the stove or outdoor grill, about 3-4 minutes on each side.
6. SERVE
Place the chicken on serving platter. You can smother the extra sauce on the chicken (you won’t regret it)
I did make this dish with a bit more sauce left (in other words a bit more “wet”), you can certainly reduce the sauce further to make it really thick if that’s what you prefer.
WHAT TO DO WITH THE LEFTOVER BUMBU RUJAK SAUCE
That sauce is insanely good for real! My mom said it tasted very close to rendang Padang. I kept some of the leftover sauce to go with or to make:
Scallion pancakes
Soft and fluffy plain Chinese steamed buns (mantou)
Nasi goreng bumbu rendang
Crusty bread (mop that sauce with the bread!)
RELATED POST: Ayam Panggang Bumbu Kecap
DID YOU MAKE THIS AYAM BAKAR BUMBU RUJAK RECIPE?
I love it when you guys snap a photo and tag to show me what you’ve made 🙂 Simply tag me @WhatToCookToday #WhatToCookToday on Instagram and I’ll be sure to stop by and take a peek for real!
*Recipe is written for 6-quart Instant Pot. Cooking time should remain the same for 8-quart size but will take longer to pressurize. For mini duo (3-quart), I recommend to half the recipe and use the same amount of time to cook. Cooking time doesn’t change because the time is based on the size of your pot not the quantity of the food*
Ayam Bakar Bumbu Rujak
Ingredients
- 3 lbs bone-in skin-on chicken thigh or drumsticks
- 2 Tbsp cooking oil
- 1 Tbsp seedless tamarind
- 500 ml coconut cream about 1 cup
Ingredients to grind:
- 1 large purple onion peeled and quartered
- 6 cloves garlic peeled
- 10 candlenuts or sub with macadamia nuts
- 1 inch fresh ginger
- 2 tsp coriander powder
- 1 inch turmeric root or use 1 Tbsp turmeric powder
- 1 inch galangal root or use 1 Tbsp galangal powder
- 2 Tbsp sambal oelek omit or more if you want it spicier
Herbs:
- 1 lemongrass stalk discard woody ends and outer leaves
- 5 kaffir lime leaves
- 5 bay leaves (daun salam)
Seasonings:
- 1 tsp salt or more to taste
- 2 tsp coconut sugar
Instructions
- Mix tamarind with 2 Tbsp of hot water. Let it soak until softened, about 10 minutes
- Place all ingredients to grind in a food processor and grind into a paste.
If cooking with Instant Pot:
- Press saute mode. When it's hot, add 2 Tbsp cooking oil. Add the spice paste you grind earlier. Stir fry until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the fresh herbs and tamarind juice you prepared earlier, stir fry for another minute
- Add coconut cream and seasonings and use a spatula to make sure you scrape the bottom of the pot to make sure nothing gets stuck or it will trigger a "burn" warning later. If it's a bit too thick, you can add about 1/4 cup water and really scrape the bottom of the pot well. Turn off saute mode. Add the chicken pieces. Give it a stir one last time
- Close the lid. Turn the steam release valve to "sealing". Set the pressure cooker on "high" pressure". Set timer to 15 minutes and then release pressure immediately after. Unlock the lid and use a tong to transfer the chicken out from the inner pot onto a baking sheet lined with an aluminum foil
- Reduce the sauce: Turn on saute mode again and let the sauce continues to cook until liquid evaporates and becomes thick with some oil floating. Brush this sauce over the chicken pieces and proceed to the grilling step below
If cooking on the stove:
- Preheat a large pot/dutch oven. When it's hot, add 2 Tbsp cooking oil. Add the spice paste you grind earlier. Stir fry until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the fresh herbs and tamarind juice you prepared earlier, stir fry for another minute. Add coconut cream and seasonings. Bring to a boil and then add the chicken pieces. Stir to mix everything. Lower the heat to let it simmer uncovered for the next 45 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is reduced and thickened with some oil ooze out from the coconut cream .
- Transfer the chicken pieces out onto a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil. Brush with the sauce and proceed to the grilling step below
Grill the chicken:
- Turn on the broiler in your oven to low. Place the baking sheet inside the oven top rack and let the chicken pieces broiled on low until nicely golden brown and slightly charred. Do not walk away during this process. Alternatively, you can always grill on the stove or outdoor grill, about 3-4 minutes on each side.
Serving:
- Place the chicken on serving platter. You can smother the extra sauce left on the chicken (trust me you want to keep that sauce because it's so insanely good!)
13 comments
Hi Marv,
May I check with you if I can use tamarind paste instead of seedless tamarind, and if so, how much do I need?
Thank you Marv. Can’t wait to make this one.
Hi Kathrin, you can use 1 Tbsp of tamarind paste to substitute. I hope you enjoy it Kathrin!
what would you suggest to serve with the Ayam Bakar to make a complete main course ?
We usually eat it with plain white rice or you can make some nasi gurih or nasi pandan and for veggies some locals like to have it with fresh slices of cucumber, tomatoes 🙂
If I double the recipe..will the cooking time will be the same with the IP method?? Thanks!
I cooked ayam bumbu rujak today. But seems like the spices wasn’t absorbed enough. Could you please advise why?
Hi Lina, the chicken is cooked with all the spices, etc until tender and then the sauce is reduced. The chicken is then grilled and you can smother it with more sauce.
I got some party wings in the freezer. If I use them, can the cooking time be the same?? 😬 Thank you!
Hi Reni, you can use frozen wings in Instant Pot and pressure cook it on high pressure for 20 minutes. If you’ll be cooking on the stove, then thaw the wings and cooking time will be 20-30 minutes or until cooked through. I hope this helps.
Hi Marvellina! Thanks for sharing amazing recipes, so happy I found your website! I tried chicken rendang last week and made this ayam bumbu rujak & spicy lemongrass chicken today. All 3 are wonderful. You’ve made this fellow Indonesian-living-far-away-from-home very happy. (My husband is less happy though as he doesn’t like the sharp smell from the kitchen, but who cares?) I’ll be your regular website visitor for sure. Thanks again! xx
Hi Debbie, I’m very happy to hear that you like what you’ve tried so far 🙂 I know how hard it is living far away from home with all the cravings for Indo food 🙂 Thank you so much for trying and for letting me know 🙂
Both your recipes and photos look really sumptuous and I can’t wait to try them!
May I enquire for the Lemper Ayam, can the glutinous rice be cooked in a rice cooker?
Hi Luanne, yes you can cook the glutinous rice in the rice cooker, but you still need to soak the rice for at least 2 hours before cooking it. I hope this helps!