Dad's Tamarind Chicken

You will need either a whole chicken cut up or chicken pieces. Six
pieces to serve four people.

chicken
4 oz tamarind pulp
8 cups boiling water
six cloves garlic
finely chopped
6 shallots finely chopped
6 oz palm sugar- or any dark brown sugar will do..
1 cup dark soya sauce
good handful toasted coriander seeds ( roast in dry skillet )
salt and freshly ground black pepper

you can add a little chilli too if you like it hot

Put tamarind pulp in a bowl- pour on boiling water. Mash it
thoroughly and after five mins strain into a larger bowl
Throw in garlic , shallots , sugar and soy sauce.

Add chicken pieces. Rest the marinade either overnight or AT LEAST
FOUR HOURS.

put the chicken and marinade into a large pan on top of the cooker.
Sprinkle over the coriander.
Cover and simmer for 40 minutes- until chicken is tender and the
liquid is reduced.
This is quite a dry dish so if you have too much liquid at this
stage- spoon some off and reserve for later use.
most of the sauce should be absorbed by the chicken pieces.
Season with salt and pepper
Serve with coconut rice and a spicy coconut and pineapple sambal