Ayam Bakar dengan Saus à la Blora (Grilled Chiken with Sauce à la Blora)

Blora is a city in the central of Java, which is famous not only for their newly discovered fossils, (apparently it is paradise for antrophologists) but also for their satay. The peanut sauce is different than the normal peanut sauce used in most of satay in other part of Indonesia (or South East Asia). I read that the meat used is not beef, but it is water buffalo meat. My guess is that it has something to do with the history of the spread of Muslim religion during its early years in Indonesia. Long time ago in Indonesia when Hindu ruled Java, there were several saints (Muslim missionaries) who tried to convert the Hindus to become Muslims. In order to win their sympathy and gain followers, the saints, among others, refused to eat beef, a believe (or a belief? huh..my lousy english) which is uphold by the Hindus, and taught this to their followers.

It is quite difficult to find a place where you can buy satay Blora in Jakarta. When i was a kid (the time when i did not like satay, and many other Indonesian food) there was one small market in Cikini called Hias Rias Market, where you could find a small restaurant situated in the heart of the market which sold satay Blora. I think it was from this restaurant i ever heard the name Blora for the first time, which sounded funny in my kiddy ear. Now whenever i hear the name Satay Blora, i would think of the small market called Hias Rias next to my elementary/junior high in Jakarta, and that small restaurant situated in the middle of the bazaar, among bookshops (where I used to search for school books and stupid typical 80's stickers), shops for hobbyist (philatelists,) but never really packed with women searching for sewing and knitting kit although the market was actually destined for women and their related hobbies. Even at that time there were only small numbers of passers by, and most of the time, I remember that the sellers were bored waiting for costumers.

Nowadays, the name Hias Rias is still there, i guess, but ever since they renovated the market, more than 20 years ago (they put a small building name Hias Rias Cikini to replace the more traditional ensamble of shops), the 'mall' is always as dead as the cemetery. I have not been there for ages. I don't know if there are still sellers over there, if it is still open.....Hmmm...Suddenly I miss that good old days where my mom would make us pass it, because she always parked her car behind the market. I miss the ambiance of my city in the early 80's and I miss my mom! :((

Anyway, I did not have beef...neither buffalo water meat. Thus I use chicken thighs instead. The inspiration is taken from the net, from Tabloid Nova page.


Ingredients:

• 4 chicken thighs
  
• 50 gr (or twice) peanut, grind smoothly (we ground it coarsely, bad idea!)
• 400 ml coconut milk
• cooking oil

Crush the following:

• 1 tsp coriander grains
• 2 shallots
• 1 garlic
• 1 tsp Indonesian lesser galanga (kencur, if you don't have it, omit or use galanga instead)
• white pepper
• salt

Directions

1. Boil the chicken until cook. Pat dry, set aside. Save the chicken stock for other use.
   
2. Heat oil in a pan, add the ground ingredients cook until the aroma got out. Add the peanut, mixed well, and add the coconut milk. Cook until the sauce thickens.
3. Brush the sauce all over the boiled chicken.
4. Grill until brownish and serve immediately with the peanut sauce.