I have always wanted to learn to cook curry chicken from scratch. When I left for Glasgow, I bought instant curry paste so all i need to do is to add water, chicken and potato and cook it.
I did that until I came across a vegetarian friend from Nepal who cooked his curry from scratch and introduced me to spices. He kept his spices whole when cooking instead of blending it.
Actually cooking curries from scratch requires a bit of ‘investment’ at initial stage. I had to buy packets of fish curry powder, chicken curry powder, chilli powder, cinnamon stick, cumin, green cardamom, star anise, cloves, tumeric… Most of the spices have an expiry date within a year but I keep it longer and it taste fine.
Most chicken curry powder packet has a brief recipe and it’s quite similar. If I have not cooked it for a while, I will just refer to it to jog my memory.
Piglet has advised me to fry to chicken and potato separately first so that it is more fragrant. Honestly I only do it if I have the time or feel like it. I have also increased the quantity of potatoes as we love potatoes. Piglet likes his curry thick and milky too.
Curry Chicken Recipe
Ingredients
1kg chicken
1kg potato
60g curry powder
Paste: 200g shallots, 2cm ginger, few cloves garlic
Spices: 1 star anise, 1 cinnamon stick, 5 cloves, 2 green cardamom, 1 tsp cumin (optional), 1 tsp fennel (optional)
2-3 lemon grass stick (optional)
few sprigs of curry leaves
200ml of coconut cream
Salt & sugar to taste
Method
1.Blend garlic, ginger and shallots into a paste. Add oil or water to blend easily.
2. Fry chicken and put aside (optional)
3. Fry potato and put aside (optional)
4.Heat up spices until aromatic
5. Add in paste and curry powder and fry until the oil separates from the paste.
6. Add chicken, water, coconut milk, lemon grass, curry leaves and put to boil. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes.
7. Add in potatoes and simmer for another 20 minutes. Add salt and sugar to taste
