Nonya Chicken Curry

I have grown to really like Poh's Kitchen. I like how she showcase the beauty of Malaysian and Chinese food to Australia. I like how ABC has all her shows on internet TV (means I can watch it anytime!)

It is also one of the most tedious curries I have made. Woah, the steps! It is actually very easy, but it does takes patience. I took a few short cuts-such as using ground spices instead of whole. Simply because I have some ground spices on hand and that I didn't want to purchase new whole spices again.

If you are wondering... why am I serving this with Thosai- wrong curry! I had a friend came over to teach me how to make thosai on the day I made the curry! oops. Oh well, I learned how to flip thosai (FINALLY!)


At least the curry was good.

Nonya Chicken Curry

Rempah/Spice Paste
• 3 tbs coriander powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp fennel powder 

• 15 dried chillies, deseeded, soaked in hot water, drained and chopped
• 270g red eschallots, roughly chopped
• 3 cloves garlic
• 20g belachan, toasted* (place it in the oven with foil for 5-10 minutes till it becomes crumby) 
• 25g fresh turmeric root

• 3 tbs coconut cream
• 6 - 7 sprigs of curry leaves
• 4 tbs veg oil

• 1 star anise
• 2 whole cloves
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 kg chicken thigh fillets
• 3 potatoes peeled and chopped 
• 4-5 birds eye chillies, de-seeded and halved lengthways
• 400ml coconut milk
• 1 tbs salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 100ml coconut cream

1) Toast the ground spices

2) To make the rempah, Slowy grind the shallots, dried chill, garlic, belachan, turmeric root together. Add the spices as well.

3) Heat oil in pot. Sizzle star anise, cloves and cinnamon stick. Add the rempah. Cook it till it smells wonderful and the oil seems to have separated.Add a little coconut milk to make into a gravy. 

4) Add chicken, potatoes and the rest of the coconut milk. Cover and simmer.

5) Taste and add seasoning. Slowly add in coconut cream. Then add the chopped birds eye chills. 

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! xx 

I'm submitting my post to Aspiring Bakers #28: Chicken Feast (February 2013) hosted by SSB of Small Small Baker. I have always wanted to join in and this is my chance!!!!

Curried Chicken Sausages

 There are times when I wonder, time just seem to past so quickly. When one is so busy, everything seems to go in a flash.

Recovering from a cold, I had a few days off work. I spent most of the time resting, enjoying our new home and appreciating the warm of my covers and heat packs. I managed to complete all my ironing (yay!) and did some re organisation. I didn't go to the gym, but chose to take it easy for 2 days.

There is something about a cold and curry that goes together. Must be the heat and spiciness that helps with a snuffy nose. I managed to find a curry paste without any added sugar which is a big bonus. If I can, I would attempt to make my curry pastes, but being sick means I have less patience to be blending anything!

I found some free range chicken sausages at our local supermarket. Free range chicken sausages are often in my freezer as it is quick and easy. I diced it, placed in a pot, add curry paste, some coconut milk and da-tuh. Comfort meal done. Easy no?

Curried Chicken Sausages (Serves 4-5)
1 packet of free range chicken sausages chopped
2 tablespoon of curry paste of your choice.
200 ml of coconut milk
1 red onion
1 small Lebanese cucumber
1 small capsicum
1 small carrot chopped

Saute onion and brown sausages.  Add curry paste and cook till sausages are done. Add veges and if you like coconut milk or water. Serve hot with vegetables.

Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala is something that I have always wanted to make at home, but thought it was in the too hard basket. One thing about eating clean as best as we could, is that it makes me more comfortable in using more natural or back to basics ingredients.

I love the aroma of different spices used in tikka masala. While tikka masala is often associated as a high fat, this version is leaner but definitely not short of flavour. The other thing I like about this recipe... it was pretty much a one pan dish! Everything in the oven and ta-dah..tasty dinner ready.

Given hubby's part indian heritage, he was a little sceptical about the authentic of the recipe. I'm not sure of it myself, but hubby assured me that even he was surprised that it tasted like the real stuff. mm.. maybe it is the real stuff! LOL

Both of us agreed that it tasted even better the next day. I made enough for 4 meals and will be keeping this recipe for sure.

Chicken Tikka Masala (serves 8)
1 kg chicken thighs fillets
2 tablespoon of oil
50 ml of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of cinnamon
4 tablespoon of grated ginger
4 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 tablespoon of chill powder
1 tablespoon of turmeric
ground pepper
1 tablespoon of lemon juice

Sauce
1 tablespoon of olive oil
50 ml coconut milk
1 tinned of chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
3 tablespoon of chopped garlic
1 chopped onion
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon of paprika
1/2 tsp of sea salt
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 chili padi chopped
1 tsp of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of garam masala
1 tablespoon of turmeric


Pre heat oven 200C.

Marinate chicken in all ingredients in an oven proof dish. Bake chicken till cooked through for around 1 hour.

Meanwhile, sauté onion and garlic. Then combine all ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer for around 10-15 mins. When the chicken is cooked, pour sauce over it. Bake for another 20 mins or so. Serve with veges or if you like, with rice. 

Burmese Style Beef Curry

Experimenting with curries has been interesting. It certainly took me out of my comfort zone in the kitchen.  Blending of spices, chopping of ginger, tasting and making sure the blend of tastes is ok... woah! I am used to quick and easy in the kitchen!

But out of comfort zone is good. It's ok. I read somewhere that when your mind stretches, it can never go back. I believe it is the same with cooking. Every other week, I want to see if I could go further, taste more and make another batch of curry.

I have to confess that the original recipe does not use beef. I don't think burmese would used that much beef since many burmese are buddhists. Nevertheless, hubby requested for beef curry and he gets beef curry!

The tang from tamarind, the saltiness from the balachan or shrimp paste... yum!

Burmese Style Beef Curry- Adapted from Asian and Thai Curry by Hermes House Serves 4
4 cm fresh ginger grated
3 red chili padi chopped
2 lemongrass white bit chopped
1 tbsp shrimp paste
1 tsp brown sugar
500 grams lean beef cubes
1 cup of water
2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp dark soy sauce
5-6 tablespoon of tamarind juice
1 tbsp fish sauce


Food processor- grind ginger, chill and lemon grass. Add shrimp paste and brown sugar to make it to a paste.

Saute paste till nice and fragrant. Add beef and brown them. Then lower heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes. Stir in some water, turmeric, soy sauce into the pan. Taste, season and cook for another 30 minutes or so. Last 5 minutes, add the tamarind juice. Serve with veges.

Ayam Kecap

The beauty about growing up in Singapore, having a Chinese Malaysian father, and a Chinese-Indian Malaysian husband (yes, I followed my mother's footsteps in marrying a malaysian!) is that I get expose to other kinds of food other than traditional Cantonese. Ayam stands for chicken, and Kecap means dark sweet soy sauce. It's a marriage between chinese and malay cuisine really.

At first I thought it is a curry dish. But really, it's more of a spiced stew, probably borderlining being a curry. It requires time to simmer which as you know is abit of a luxury for me these days but once I got into it, I really enjoyed the process.

The colour of the dish comes from the dark soy sauce. It has a generous chill hit and lovely texture to it. Yum!

Ayam Kecap (serves 4)
500 grams chicken thighs -or you can use drumsticks/chicken pieces
3 onions chopped
4 big red chill chopped
3 cloves garlic

1/2 tsp grated nutmeg or ground nutmeg
6 whole cloves
1 tsp tamarind pulp soaked in around 3 tbsp warm water
2-3 tablespoon of dark soy sauce
pinch of salt

In a food processor, blitz chopped onions, garlic and chili. Heat paste in a pan. When warm and cooked, add chopped chicken thighs and cook till brown. Then add nutmeg and cloves. If it is a little dry, add some of the tamarind juice. Simmer for 3-4 minutes and add the rest of the tamarind juice with the soy sauce. If still dry, add some water (I didn't see the need to do that). Taste, adjust seasoning and simmer chicken for another 20 minutes or so.

Indonesian Spicy Roast Chicken

I'm not quite sure why this is Indonesian? Perhaps my indonesian friends could let me know why? But I see this recipe as rather interesting. It really is a curry baked chicken!! I was attracted to it because the paste was made exactly the way when we could make a curry but only we pour the sauce over the chicken and roast it!

All I could think of was, slow cooked chicken in rich coconut curry sauce. That is bound to be a winner! And indeed it is. I know it is summer now but eating chicken this way with some rice or simple salad is such a comfort.

Indonesian Spicy Roast Chicken (Serves 4)
8 chicken drumsticks with skin and fat trimmed

125 ml coconut cream
3 pieces of kaffir lime leaves
1 tablespoon of oil
salt

Spices (blended)
3 chili padis
2 dried chili soaked in warm water
1 whole knob of garlic
5 shallots
1/2 cm size piece of turmeric or I used 2 tablespoon of turmeric powder
a 3 cm piece of galangal
3 candle nuts
2 tablespoon of curry powder

Preheat Oven to 200 C>

Place blended ingredients in a pot. Cook till fragrant. Add in coconut milk and some salt. Taste and season accordingly. Cook all ingredients till thick. Then pour it on to chicken. Bake for around 30-40 minutes.

Gogo's Lamb Curry

Indian food is very pricey in Perth. There are of course, some hits and misses as well. On the occasion that we do have Indian food, we aim to go to the reputable ones such as Gogo's, Two Fat Indians and would you believe.. the tiny indian place just a 10 minutes walk from where we are!

Earlier in the year, I spotted a recipe that Chef GoGo has generously shared with readers of the Sunday Times (News). I kept that paper and said I would attempt it. It looked relatively simple, and the usual doubts crossed my mind... like why would a chef want to share his recipe with others?

However, hubby and I agreed that it is better than the Lamb Curry 2 that I made early last year. It is a keeper of a recipe. I love how simple the blends of spices are as well. The only thing was that I could not justify having 100 ml of oil so I reduced that to 1 tablespoon. Also, I added some cauliflower for a one pot dish. Will be making this again!

GoGo's Lamb Curry (serves 4-6)
700 grams of lamb pieces (I used a small shoulder)
2 onions chopped
4 chopped roma tomatoes
50 grams chopped garlic
50 grams chopped ginger
1 tablespoon of oil
2 tablespoon of chill powder
2 tablespoon of coriander powder
2 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
120 ml of coconut milk

Optional- half a head of cauliflower

Heat oil and sauté onions. Add meat with ginger, garlic and salt. Sweat till juices come out. Add spices and lower heat. Simmer for at least 45 minutes (I cooked mine for 1 hr+ and the meat was tender as!).

Add finely chopped tomatoes and cook for last 15 minutes. Add coconut milk at the last minute. Serve with hot rice.

Malay Style Curry Chicken

Many years ago, someone asked if I knew how to make curry chicken from scratch. She meant blending spices together to create our own pastes rather than relying on store bought ones. My short answer then was no. I even thought, who would want to make their own pastes these days given there are so many good store bought ones?

But I learned.

I learned that making our own pastes means more control in understanding what goes into our food. It forces me to find out what is a candlenut. It made me more savvy in tasting-it's a continuous process of blending and tasting till the right balance occurs.

Even reading recipe books can be tricky. Again, one cannot forget to keep tasting to make sure it is right.

I wish I could tell the person that she is right. Making curry is a test of skill and patience. It's one that an asian cook should at least trip to attempt it. It's a classic. Just like my delay in making roast chicken, this is n o difference. It pushes me out of my comfort zone.

But that's what personal kitchen skills' growth is about isn't it. The quest to learn and extend ourselves.

I took this recipe from "A taste of Malaysia" written by Patsie Chong. Adapted a few things and yum! Malay Style Curry Chicken.

Malay Style Curry Chicken
600 grams chicken thigh with bones in pieces
4 potatoes chopped
200 grams coconut cream

To be blended
8-10 shallots
1 head of garlic
2 candle nuts

Seasoning
5 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp sambal balacan paste (or you can use chill paste)
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp coriander powder
3 stalks of lemonongrass
6 stalks of curry leaves
1/2 cup of water
salt if needed

Saute blended ingredients and seasoning in a deep pot. If you like, you could use some oil to sauté it. I didn't. Add in chicken and potatoes. Coat the paste on chicken well. Pour water. You may need a little more if it seems dry. Boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes till chicken is well cooked. Stir in coconut cream. Taste and season with salt if needed. Serve with rice.

Merdeka Open House: Chicken Kapitan

When my husband and I were still in our dating stage of our relationship, he brought me to visit his family's home town- Malacca. It was a truly amazing experience, standing in the midst of a busy street at Jasin, imaging what it must be like for him growing up, visiting his grandmother, playing with his cousins and eating all the fabulous food one can find there!

Most of hubby's family have since moved to KL. His grandmother passed away sometime ago, but his uncles and my father in law continued to check in their little family home now and then.

As usual, when Babe in KL annouced this year's theme of Merdeka Open House, I asked what he would like me to cook. His response was unusually quiet as he spoke about one of his favourite dishes that his mother used to cook for him and how it reminded him of Malacca.

I could still recall, those days where we could bring in to Australia home made curry pastes. His mother would prepare a few packets of rempah, and in some cases, even curry pastes of Chicken Kapitan. When hubby and I were housemates, I used to look forward to his turn to cook- because he would use his mother's curry pastes!

It makes sense then, when he requested that I make Chicken Kapitan this year. Celebrating where his family comes from when they arrived in Jasin so many years ago, and how his uncles witness their father (My grandfather in law if it makes sense!) build his establishments, allowing the uncles to have the future they have now, and allowing my husband and his generation to build their future.  Not forgetting, a big thank you to my mother in law who packed and prepared all those years of chicken kapitan pastes so that hubby (and me!) could have a taste of home.

Chicken Kapitan is a Nonya dish, a chicken in a rich coconut curry gravy. My kitchen was filled with the lovely flavours of lemongrass, belacan and ginger. Ah, I'm slowly loving my quest of cooking curry from scratch this year.

Chicken Kapitan (serves 4-5)
500 grams of chicken thigh (Or you can use 1 kg of chicken drumsticks)
1 tsp oil
5 eschalots diced
270 ml of coconut cream
juice of 1/2 lemon/lime

To be blended or pounded
4 chili padi
3 eschalots
5 cloves of garlic
2.5 cm each of ginger, galangal and tumeric, peeled and sliced
5 candlenuts
2 stalks of lemongrass white part only, chopped finely
1 tsp belacan (dried shrimp paste)

Blend the blended ingredients into a paste. Heat oil in a pan and fry paste for around 5 minutes. Your kitchen will smell so good then! Brown chicken and eschalots. Turn chicken to coat in paste. Add coconut cream with 100 ml of water and cover pan with lid. Boil and them simmer for another 20 minutes or so. Uncover and simmer for another 5-10 minutes. Stir in lemon/lime juice. Serve with hot rice.


Sending my love to this year's event of Merdeka's Day organised by Babe in Kl!

(reminds me.. I should start an event for Singapore National Day next year!)

Indian Fish Curry

Whenever I think of having fish, it's either steamed, pan fried or in a curry form. Looking back, I always feel more comfortable having curry fish (or steamed fish) than other versions. Attempting it at home however, is another story.

I spotted this recipe by Betty Saw some time ago from her "Rasa Malaysia" Cookbook. Woah, that cookbook is filled of goodies.

Again, I chose a recipe that I know ingredients can be source here at our markets. I didn't use as much coconut as stated in the recipe. On hindset, I should have ground the ingredients but chopped them finely instead.

I love the tangy, rich taste of this. I used barramundi fillet but am thinking of using snapper next time-a fish which is firmer.

This year, it's my aim to master the art of making curries. While I am not quite there yet, this recipe makes me feel proud that I have stepped out of my comfort zone-and resisted using package sauces! woohoO!

Indian Fish Curry (serves 4)
400 grams Barramundi fillet sliced
100 grams of squid sliced
1 tsp salt
6 tbsp of curry powder mixed with 100 ml water
1 tsp mustard seeds
a few slices of tamarind soaked in few tsp of water. strain pulp
250 ml coconut milk
3 brinjals sliced diagnonally
1/2 can of tomatoes or 3 tomatoes quarted

Ingredients to be grounded (or chopped finely)
4-5 chili padi or 25 dried chillies soaked
around 6 shallots chopped
4 stalks of lemongrass


Rub fish with 1 tsp of salt. Set aside.

Heat some oil in wok or pan. Fry grounded or finely chopped ingredients. Then add curry powder paste and mustard seeds. Fry till fragrant. If mixture appears dry, add some tamarind liquid.

Add curry leaves. Fry for 3-5 more minutes before adding the rest of the tamarind liquid and coconut milk.

When it starts to boil, add the brinjals. Simmer for around 10 minutes. Then add fish, salt and tomatoes. Cook till fish is done. Serve with rice.

Spiced Potatoes

I didn't have the chance to research and read up on masala potatoes and decided to do a dry potato curry version of what I think would go well. Since it is not the real masala, I decided to call it spiced potatoes instead.

I really like the dance of flavours that goes in this. It's a quick side dish to make for sure. I used a blend of cumin (oh my favourite spice!), coriander powder, turmeric and curry powder.

So till the next time that I make some real masala potatoes, this will do!

Spiced Potatoes (Serves 2-3)
3 potatoes peeled and diced.

1 tablespoon of oil
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tsp of curry powder
1 tsp coriander powder
salt
pepper

Cook potatoes in salted water. Drained. Mean while, heat a shallow pan with oil and fry spices till fragrant. Toss in potatoes for around 5 minutes. Serve warm.

Beef Rendang

 Have you caught the Masterchef fever yet? I have. Every time I watch an episode, I learn something new. According to some newspaper reports, home cook meals have increased by more than 100% following the series. They could even predict what ingredients are more in demand after the show!

Last season's winner Adam Liaw published his first cookbook "Two Asian Kitchens" not long ago. He separated recipes into "old kitchen" and "new kitchen"- concepts that I embrace immediately. Afterall, I'm always trying to learn how to create recipes that my heritage and family taught me but at the same time, love to re create new stuff in my new kitchen from experiences and life.

I picked his rendang recipe to try first. Most people who cooked rendang before would tell me that it is a tedious and long process to get it right. It's a very thick beef coconut spicy stew, cooked so long that the meat is tender and has a melt in your mouth texture.

His ingredients are easy to source in my local oriental and vegetable market- a big bonus because I often find it hard to locate items from cookbooks bought overseas. He made it easy for the Aussie Market!!

I love mixing the toasted coconut at the last 20-30 minutes. It provides the texture that only the rendang can claim king. It tasted better after the next day.

Adam Liaw's Beef Rendang (serves 4-5)
1 tsp oil
600 grams of lean beef chunks. He recommended braising steak as well.
3 stalks of lemongrass
2 kaffir lime leaves shredded
1 tsp sugar
400 ml coconut cream
100 grams grated fresh coconut or 130 grams desiccated coconut if needed.

Base Paste
1 red onion (or 8 eschalots)
6 red hot bird eyes chilies
at least 6 garlic cloves. I added 2 generous tablespoon of minced garlic
3 cm piece of galangal, ginger and tumeric. All peeled and thickly sliced.
2 tsp sea salt flakes

Place all base paste ingredients in a food processor or mortar. Grind to a paste. Heat oil in large saucepan, fry paste for 5 mins or so till fragrant.

Add beef, lemongrass,, eric, kaffir leaves, sugar and toss to coat in mixture. Add coconut cream and around 200 ml water. Simmer for 30 mins. Then uncover and cook for 1 hour.

Meanwhile, toaste coconut till slight brown. Transfer to a mortar and grind it to a paste. This will release the oils. I cheated and just use a pestle to gently press the coconut.

The beef would have been cooking for 1.5 hours. Add the coconut and cook for another 20 minutes or so. Stir often. Taste and adjust seasoning accordingly. Serve with hot rice or coconut rice.

Chicken and Pistachio Korma

At the beginning of the year, I said that one of my goals would be to make curry from scratch. I spotted this recipe from Poh's Kitchen and thought it looks really interesting. Korma is an Indian style curry- often served thick like stew.

I love the use of pistachios in this. The nutty flavour of this is a sure winner. I didn't add cream but pour in some coconut cream instead which added another layer of creaminess to it. The other thing I did was to use a mixture of green and red chilis in this. No other reason but to fulfill my cravings for hot and spicy curry on a cold night.

Surprisingly, the curry paste was soo easy to do. Did I mention my food processor? A few blitz and the sauce was done!

Chicken and Pistachio Korma (serves 4) 
2 onions sliced
1/2 cup pistachio kernels
4 green chillies
2 red chili padi 
1-2 tablespoons of ginger minced + garlic mince
1 tablespoon of coriander powder
dash of white pepper
500 grams of chicken thigh chopped
100 grams of coconut cream
1 cup of water
1 tsp of garam masala powder

Boil onions in one cup of water, drain, cool and puree. Puree pistachios and green chilli, keeping a few nuts aside for garnish.

Heat the oil and add the onions and sauté for four minutes, do not brown. Add ginger and garlic paste. Fry for one minute and stir in coriander and pepper powders. Add pistachio and green chilli paste and cook for about a minute.
Put in the chicken with the salt and mix well. Add a little water (quarter of a cup) and cook gently until done. Add coconut and garam masala. Garnish with pistachio nuts and serve hot.

Lamb Curry 2

Determined not to be disappointed with my first curry-from-scratch experience, I rolled up my sleeve and decided to give it a go again. This time round, I have ALL the ingredients with me-including curry leaves and ginger.

I opted to use a milder Indian curry powder which still provided the kick. We are a family who loves our spiciness but even my grandma admitted that last batch was abit too potent. You can tell that the colour is slightly different too-probably because I cooked this longer, and added more potatoes to it. This means I had to add more water to it too.

I was told that each time one makes curry, it may taste slightly different. But as long as we keep tasting, keep smelling, and keep adjusting, it will be fine. I did just that. Thankfully, everyone could stomach this curry, and the leftovers were even more tasty the next day.

See recipe and Lamb Curry 1 here.