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Ayam Balado or Indonesian fried chicken with spicy sambal balado is very easy and quick to make at home without a fuss. The sambal recipe itself is a versatile condiment to many other Indonesian recipes.

a photo of fried chicken with chilli spices on top.

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Ayam Balado

Balado is a hot and spicy seasoning that comes from Minang, West Sumatra. It’s become popular all over Indonesia and even in places like Malaysia and Singapore.

The sauce is a mix of fried red chili peppers, garlic, shallots, tomatoes, and kaffir lime leaves, kind of like sambal, which is a common dipping sauce.

Chicken balado, or ayam balado, is basically fried chicken stir-fried with this spicy sauce, making the chicken super fragrant and full of flavor from the chilies and spices.

You can also pour balado sauce over fried eggs to make Telur Balado (Balado Egg) or use it with other dishes like Terong Balado (Balado Eggplant) and many others.

Indonesian dish has a lot of spices in the recipes. Even though they all look complicated and fussy, they turn out super easy to make. For those who can’t stand hot spicy food, you can always reduce the chilis or substitute with big red chilis which are less spicy.

If you like spicy food, you must try Indonesian Chicken Curry, Jakarta Beef Soup (Soto Betawi), Spiced Beef Soup (Soto Tangkar). They are loaded with wonderful spices and herbs from Asia.

Why You Will Love This Recipe

Well marinated – The chicken will be well-marinated using the method in this recipe. The meat also becomes very tender.
Simple to make – Even though Southeast Asian food looks challenging, the method is simple. Just follow the guide in this recipe.
Adjustable – The chili is adjustable according to your preference and tolerance to spicy food.
Inexpensive – The ingredients are all inexpensive and easy to get in any grocery stores.

Recipe Ingredients

Ingredient Notes

Chilis – Use large, red chilis—they’re the mildest. Traditionally, chili sauce was ground in a stone mortar and pestle called ulekan in Indonesia, giving it a coarse texture that some say tastes better. However, I use a food processor. For a coarse texture, just pulse a few times. Personally, I think it tastes great this way!

Coconut sugar – Coconut sugar will add fragrance to the dish. If you don’t have this, you can substitute it with palm sugar or brown sugar.

Turmeric, Ginger – It is ideal to get the fresh ones, however you can get the ground form of these spices. The ground form will not affect the flavor of the dish.

Substitutions & Variations

Some people in Indonesia like to boil the chicken with coconut water to make the chicken more fragrant and soft. If you can’t have coconut water, it’s fine, you can use regular water to boil the chicken.

Sambal balado or chili sauce from this recipe is very versatile. Mixed with fried eggplants, it is Terong Balado. Mixed with fried boiled eggs, it is Telur Balado.

How to Make

Put shallots, garlic, turmeric, ginger in a food processor. Add coriander seeds and salt. Process until fine. (image 1, 2, 3)
Pour lime juice all over chicken pieces and massage for a while to let the lime juice get into the chicken.
Blend all the marinate sauce and mix with the chicken evenly (image 4, 5). Cover with cling wrap (image 6). Marinate over 10 minutes at least. It is best to keep the chicken overnight to let the spices go through the meat.

photo collage of preparing the spices for ayam balado.

Put the marinated chicken in a pot. Pour water to soak the chicken. (image 7, 8)
When it boils, lower the heat. Cook the chicken for one hour with low heat, put on the lid (image 9).

photo collage of boiling the marinated chicken.

Let the chicken simmer in the pot until they are thoroughly cooked (image 10, 11). Take out the chicken from the pot and let the oil drain.

photo collage of deep-frying the chicken.

Deep-fry the chicken until it changes color to golden brown (image 12). Take the chicken out, set aside (image 13).
Grind the chilis coarsely. If you don’t like the seeds, you may take them out first. Use plastic gloves to cover your hands while taking the seeds away.
Heat some oil. Sautee the shallots and garlic until fragrant (image 14).

photo collage of cooking the chili sauce.

Wait until the shallots and garlic change color, pour in the coarse chilis (image 15, 16).
Put in kaffir lime leaves, remember to tear them, it will be more fragrant (image 17).
Add coconut sugar, sugar, salt, and mushroom powder (image 18).

photo collage of mixing the chili sauce with the chicken.

Stir-fry until the oil becomes red. Put in the fried chicken (image 19). Stir-fry so the chicken pieces are all coated (image 20).
Turn off the stove. Serve on a plate. Enjoy your ayam balado!

Expert Tips

Take out the seeds of the chilis to make it less spicy. Use plastic hand gloves to cover your hands, otherwise your hands will feel hot the whole day.
If you can’t stand spicy food, do not use the small curly chili or just use the big chilis.
Tear the lime leaves to make the dish more fragrant.
Add 1-2 tablespoons of oil into the food processor to blend the spices more thoroughly.