I was a picky eater when I was a child. Whenever my mum cooked “adult” food like stews and congee, I tend to pull a long face and reluctantly ate my meals. Like any child, my little tummy only has room for nuggets, fries, burgers, sausages and lollies. Oh yes, I used to obsess with all the bad food! Anyway, among the “adult” food that I hate, I was strangely drawn to my mum’s chicken curry. Maybe I’m drawn to the bright reddish-orangy gravy or the mysterious concoction of spices, but who knows? You will never know what goes through a child’s mind, right? 😛
Cooking chicken curry at my mum’s house was a big production. Everything was prepared from scratch, moreover, a long list of exotic ingredients and spices did not help either. The process started from early morning by peeling kilos of shallots (and shedding a lots tears throughout), garlic, ginger, deseeding and boiling the dried chilli and pound all the ingredients into a fine paste by using a gigantic mortar and pestle. I must say the end result is definitely worthwhile and until this day, I have not found any chicken curry that can beat my mum’s. That said, I have always been a fast food child and whatever recipes I learned from my mum, I will give them a fuss free treatment in my hands! So the chicken curry is no different. 😛
Malaysian Chicken Curry ( A Coconut Based Curry)
(A recipe from fuss free cooking)
Serves 4 people
Ingredients A:
500 chicken thigh fillets, diced
2 – 3 potatoes (depending on their sizes), diced in similar size with the chicken
1 lemongrass stalk, cut lenghtwise in 3 parts & slit in halves
2.5 tbsp curry powder, dissolves in 1/4 cup water
200 ml coconut milk
Salt to taste
Ingredients B (to be blended):
1 large onion
4 garlic cloves
1 inch thick ginger
1/4 cup water (by adding water will ensure a smoother paste)
Method:
1. Blend ingredients B in a food processor.
2. Pour the blended ingredients B in a pot, let it simmer until it is almost like a thick paste. Add in 1/4 cup oil and lemongrass, saute until aromatic & little brown bits start to appear.
3. Add the curry powder mixture and let the pot mixture simmer further for 10 minutes or until the oil begins to surface.
4. Add chicken & potatoes, quickly saute to combine with the spices. Pour enough water to cover the chicken and potatoes. Simmer under low to medium heat until the potatoes are tender. (Emily’s note: to speed up the process, I used hot water.)
5. Season with salt, add in coconut milk and continue simmering for another 10 minutes.
6. Best served with rice, vermicelli and bread.
