Malaysian Curry Chicken

I first came across this particular Malaysian curry chicken recipe last year and since then have stuck with it, with some adaption to the original recipe of course! I will cook curry chicken now and then. During the recent blogger's meetup, I contributed this dish as part of the feast which we all enjoyed. I particular like my curry chicken to have a thicker gravy and a more robust flavour.

If you ask any Malaysian, they would probably have their own version of a curry chicken dish. As Malaysia is a multi-racial country, each ethnic race, Chinese, Malay, Indian, Eurasian would have a different version of curry chicken. Additional ingredients may be used such as spices, like star anise, cloves or cinnamon stick, lemon grass, fresh or dried red chillies, candlenut, fresh tomatoes, blue ginger, tumeric root, tamarind paste, fresh curry leaves, yoghurt or dried shrimp paste. The flavours of each curry dish will also vary based on the additonal ingredients used.

(Photos were taken in a rush, so quality was somewhat compromised.)



Malaysian Curry Chicken
Recipe Adapted from "MalaysianFood.net"

Ingredients:

1 medium sized chicken (about 1.5kg) cut into serving size pieces
6 Tbsp Malaysian meat curry powder (or any brand meat curry powder) - I used Baba's meat curry powder
2 Tbsp chili powder (slightly less or more, depending on spice levels)
1/2 cup cooking oil
200ml thick coconut cream (I used Kara brand)
1 1/2 cups water
4 medium sized potatoes, cut into 1/2 or 1/3
Salt to taste
1/3 cup sliced red shallots (grind finely)
8 cloves of garlic, sliced (grind finely)
1 1/2 inch fresh ginger, sliced (grind finely)
2" piece cinnamon stick
3 pieces star anise
4 - 5 pieces of cloves
4 stalks of curry leaves, stalk removed

Method:

1) Grind the shallots, garlic and ginger until fine and set aside.

2) In a small bowl, combine meat curry powder and chili powder, add a few tbsp of water and mix into a thick paste.

3) in a large pot (preferably non-stick), heat oil on high, add ground paste, cinnamon, star anise and cloves, stir-fry until fragrant (about 4 - 5 minutes)

4) Add curry paste and curry leaves, reduce heat to medium-low, stir-fry until fragrant and oil starts to ooze from paste. Make sure that you keep stirring to prevent the paste from burning.

5) Add chicken pieces, bring heat up to med-high, stir to coat chicken well with curry paste. Fry for about 3 - 4 minutes.

6) Add the water and followed with coconut cream.

7) Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to slow to medium fire. Simmer covered for about 25 minutes. Stir occasionally.

8) Then add the potatoes and salt to taste. Continue cooking for about 15 - 20 minutes until the potatoes are tender and soft.

9) Serve curry with bread, prata or steamed white rice.