Lemper Ayam

I am craving for this authentic Indonesian snack after reading a comment from an American student who came to Indonesia and becoming obsessed with this food call LEMPER AYAM. She also love mata kebo, but I already put the recipe of mata kebo HERE, I know it still in Bahasa Indonesia, maybe one day if I decided to make it again I'll post it in English with a better picture :P (Will see!)

Traditionally, Lemper Ayam is wrapped in banana leaves, the shape is round with some chicken fillings inside.  But since I live in the country where banana leaves only come frozen, somewhat prissy and a bit inconvenience (for me :D) so I choose to use wax paper instead :D
To save some time and process, I did not shape the lemper one by one with hands, instead I layered the rice and chicken and another rice, as you can see on the pictures.

LEMPER AYAM
Indonesian glutinous rice with aromatic chicken filling

Ingredients :
500 gr glutinous rice (soak it for at least 2 hours, I did it overnight)
500 ml coconut milk
2 Indian bay leaves
2 Kefir lime leaves
1 Pandanus leaf
1 stalk lemon grass (bruised)
1 tsp salt (or to taste)

Chicken filling :
350 gr chicken breast (boiled until cooked, then shredded)
2 Indian bay leaves
4 Kefir lime leaves
200 ml coconut milk
1 tbsp Javanese tamarind's juice
1 1/2 tbsp sugar
3 tbsp cooking oil

Grind into paste :
9 shallots (I used 1 big size of onion)
5 cloves of garlic
1 1/2 tbsp coriander powder
5 pcs roasted candle nut
1/2 tsp cumin
1 inch galanga
Salt and pepper to taste

Method :
1. Drain the rice, then steam it for 15 to 20 minutes, remove from heat, set aside.
2. Heat the coconut milk together with lemon grass, bay leaves, kefir lime leaves, pandanus leaves and salt until it simmers.
3. Add the rice into simmering coconut milk, stir and let it cook until done. Watch this process carefully, fold the rice to make sure you do not overcook the bottom part, but at the same time you do not want to over do it, you do not wanna ended up having one big clumpy sticky rice ball :). Remove from heat, discharge all the leafy herbs/seasoning and divided into 2 parts, set aside.
4. Heat the cooking oil in a large pan, saute the seasoning paste until fragrant. Add the shredded chicken and the rest of the ingredients. Stir until everything is well blended and no more liquid. Remove from heat and set aside.
5. Prepare a non stick square or rectangular baking pan such as pyrex, then layer one part of the rice and gently spread it all over the pan. Then add the chicken filling and spread it on top of the first layer. Last add the other part of the rice and spread it all over using spatula.
6. Steam until it's cooked. Remove from the heat and let it cool.
7. Release it from the pan, slice it as desire then wrap it with wax paper. Enjoy it!!