Tamarind Chicken Wings

Ingredients

• 1 lb chicken wings

MARINADE

• 4-6 shallots
• 4 tablespoons tamarind juice (or 2 tbsp tamarind concentrate diluted with 6 tbsp water)
• 1 tablespoon coriander powder
• 1 teaspoon red chili paste
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 teaspoons oil

Directions

1. 1

   Chop the shallots.

2. 2

   Throw all the marinade ingredients into a food processor and whiz till you get a nice smooth paste.

3. 3

   Taste the marinade. It should have a pronounced tamarind-y and sweet flavour. Don't worry about the saltiness yet.

4. 4

   Take the chicken wings and cut each wing into two at the joint.

5. 5

   In a large bowl, add the chicken wings and marinade and mix well with your hands.

6. 6

   Cover and leave it to marinate overnight in the refrigerator, even 24 hours if you can.

7. 7

   After the marinating time is over, you'll find that some of the marinade has pooled in your bowl.

8. 8

   Transfer the chicken wings to another bowl, gently shaking off any excess marinade.

9. 9

   Now you'll have marinated wings in one bowl and excess marinade in the other.

10. 10

    We're about to deep-fry the chicken wings and the excess marinade will form our dipping sauce.

11. 11

    The wings must be fried only when required so they stay hot.

12. 12

    To make the sauce, take a pan, heat it, and pour the extra marinade into it.

13. 13

    Add about 1/2 cup of water or chicken stock and cook over medium heat for about 15-20 minutes till you have a sweet and fruity-sour sauce the consistency of tomato ketchup.

14. 14

    At this point, taste the sauce for saltiness and flavour balance.

15. 15

    Adjust if required. Turn off the heat.

16. 16

    For the wings: In a frying pan, heat about 300 ml oil for deep-frying.

17. 17

    Fry as many wings on medium-high heat at one time as you can without crowding them too much.

18. 18

    This should take about 5 minutes or till it turns a nice brown (not golden brown; we want them darker than that.).

19. 19

    Remove the first batch to a platter and dry the extra oil off with paper towels.

20. 20

    Repeat this till you've fried the entire batch of wings. Resist the temptation to eat them after they're fried. Actually, go ahead, try one piece. ;).

21. 21

    Now you have deep-fried wings and a dipping sauce.

22. 22

    How you want to take it from here is up to you.

23. 23

    You can serve the wings with the sauce on the side, or you can pour the sauce on top of the wings with a spoon to coat them. The second option is messier to eat, but more fun.