Masala Chicken Curry

I hardly cook Indian food even though we love eating it. I think it's because of the number of ingredients and steps used in the entire cooking process that has always thrown me off. For us it's always easier to go to a restaurant if we have cravings for curries or banana leaf rice (you literally eat off a banana leaf instead of a plate). I guess it also doesn't help when there is an excellent Indian restaurant just outside my apartment block and within easy walking distance. This restaurant serves not only good banana leaf rice but they also whip up a mean Indian fish head curry. I read somewhere that this dish doesn't originate from India but rather from Malaysia and Singapore (and some even say China) but that's another story altogether. I hope to try cooking this one day.

So with some spare time over the weekend and with plentiful of spices which I had purchased a while back, I decided to embark on cooking a masala chicken curry. The last time I had tried my hand for the first time at making chicken briyani rice . I served the curry with some yellow basmati rice cooked with ghee, some tumeric powder, cinnamon stick, cloves, star anise, sliced fresh ginger and shallots, and seasoned with salt.



Masala Chicken Curry
(serves 3 - 4)

For Marinate:
750g kg chicken, washed and cut into medium sized pieces
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup of mixed chopped coriander and mint leaves
1 tsp red chilli powder (adjust to suit your spice level)
¼ tsp turmeric powder
salt to taste

For the Paste:
6-7 cashew nuts
4-5 tbsps milk

Dry roast and make a fine powder:
1” cinnamon
10-12 curry leaves
3 cloves

Rest of the ingredients:
3-4 tbsps of ghee (you can use any other oil, except olive oil)
2 big onions finely chopped
1 large tomato finely chopped
1 tbsp of tomato paste
1 tsp ginger-garlic paste
1 tsp coriander powder
3/4 tsp black pepper powder (adjust to suit your spice level)
¼ tsp cumin powder
mint leaves and almond flakes for garnish



Method:

1) Marinate chicken pieces in chilli powder, turmeric powder, yogurt, mint, coriander and salt for 20 minutes.

2) While the chicken pieces is marinating, make a paste of cashew nuts and milk. Keep aside.

3) Dry roast cinnamon, cloves and curry leaves for 1 minute (you can do this in a frying pan over low heat) and grind into a fine powder using your spice grinder.

4) Heat 1 1/2 tbsps of ghee in a pot. Add the onions and saute till soften. Add ginger-garlic paste and saute further for another 3-4 minutes on medium heat.

5) Add coriander, cumin and pepper and combine well and fry for another minute.

6) Add the tomatoes and tomato paste and let it cook for 3-4 minutes. Combine well and cook till oil separates. Dish out into a bowl and set aside to cool. Then add the ingredients into a food processor and blend until it becomes a paste. Keep aside this masala paste.

7) Heat 1 1/2 tbsps ghee in a pot and add the marinated chicken and cook on high flame for 3-4 minutes (make sure you stir to avoid sticking to the base of the pot), reduce heat and cook for another 4-5 minutes.

8) Add the ground masala paste, cashew nut paste and ground powder of cinnamon, cloves and curry leaves and combine well. Cook till chicken pieces are soft and you get the desired curry consistency. Add a bit of water if it looks too dry. Add salt to taste.

9) Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and almond flakes.

Thai Red Curry with Chicken

Both my husband and I love Thai food, not because it's spicy but because of its flavours. Thai food is known for its balance of many flavors in one dish: spicy, sweet, sour, salty and bitter. It is the art of cooking that creates harmony amongst a variety of flavors.

Did you know that each region of Thailand has it's own distinct style of cooking and flavours such as:

•Kon Isarn: People in the northeast region of Thailand like to eat spicy and salty dishes.

•Kon Pak Klang: People in the central region like sweet and mild tasting.

•Kon Nua: People in the northern part of Thailand love mild but slightly spicy.

•Kon Tai: Southern region, are the only people who eat really spicy food.

The common Thai dishes which most of us would have tried are likely to be green curry, red curry, mango/papaya salad and tom yam. It's not really difficult to cook any of these dishes at home but it is essential that you get the freshest ingredients and your paste (to work off from) is good.


Thai Red Curry with Chicken (Gaeng Phed Kai Sai Nawmai)
(Serves 4 - 5)

Red Curry Paste

Prepare this authentic Thai curry paste to make the Thai Red Curry with Chicken recipe below. You can freeze any leftover paste up to 2 months in a zip lock bag, in tablespoon size portions, making it easy to add to future soups or curries as needed.

Ingredients for the Paste:

5 dried whole red chilies, seeded and soaked
5 shallots, sliced
10 cloves garlic
1 tsp galangal, finely sliced
1 tbsp lemon grass, sliced
1 tbsp kaffir lime rind, finely sliced (optional)
2 tsp chopped fresh coriander root
5 black whole peppercorns
1 tbsp ground roasted coriander seed
1 tsp roasted cumin (find out how to dry-roast spices)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp shrimp paste

Method:

1) Pound together coriander seeds, cumin, and peppercorns to obtain a fine paste in a mortar and pestle. Spoon into a bowl and put aside.

2) Pound dried chilies and salt together, add galangal, lemon grass, kaffir lime rind, coriander roots, garlic, shallots and pound well. Add the cumin mixture, follow with shrimp paste. Pound until everything is well-combined.

This authentic spicy coconut milk based red curry uses homemade red curry paste. Flavored with both fresh and dried spices, kaffir lime leaves and fresh sweet basil leaves it is a harmonious dish with chicken. Finish the cooking with the addition of fish sauce to taste and serve with steamed jasmine rice.

Ingredients for the Curry:

1 lb boneless chicken breast
1 can bamboo shoots, sliced
3 tbsp red curry paste
2 cups coconut milk
2 fresh red chili, sliced diagonally
1/2 cup Thai sweet basil leaves (bai horapah), torn
2 tbsp fish sauce (nam pla)
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp palm sugar
Thai sweet basil leaves (bai horapah) for garnish **

Method:

1) Wash the chicken, slice diagonally into 1/2 cm thick, 3 cm wide and 3 cm long pieces. Thinly slice the bamboo shoots (if not already sliced).

2) Pour 1 cup of coconut milk into a wok. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring constantly. Add the curry paste, stir until red oil comes to the surface. Add the chicken and saute until it turns white and is cooked through.

3) Add the remaining coconut milk, follow with the bamboo shoots. Season with fish sauce, sugar, and salt and bring back to a boil. Sprinkle with kaffir lime leaves, chilies, and sweet basil leaves. Turn off the heat. Arrange on a serving dish and garnish with sweet basil leaves before serving.

** If Thai sweet basil is not available, either omit or substitute other fresh herbs such as coriander or European basil.

Beef Rendang (Spicy Coconut Beef Stew)

I've been eyeing this particular beef rendang recipe from Rasa Malaysia simply because I love rendang and trying to cook it from scratch has always been somewhat daunting to me. Some of the recipes which I've come across called for a thousand and one ingredients, also not forgetting the long cooking process! Maybe it's about time to give this a try!

Back home in Malaysia, beef rendang is closely associated with Hari Raya which is the Muslim new year or Malay wedding ceremonies, called kenduri. When I was young, I would follow my parents during Hari Raya to visit their Muslim friends "open house". Open house is pretty much a tradition for all Malaysians (irrespective of race or religion) during each of own new year festivals, and there are so many ..... Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali (the Indian new year) and Christmas. "Open house" literally means opening your doors to all friends who will drop by and say hello, also not forgetting having a bite or two in-between visitations.

Rendang is a dish which originated from the Minangkabau people of Indonesia. It is one of the characteristic foods of the Minangkabau culture, and it is served at ceremonial occasions and to honor guests. Being also popular in Malaysia and Singapore, rendang is traditionally prepared by the Malay community during festive occasions. Though rendang is sometimes described as being like a curry, and the name is sometimes applied to curried meat dishes in Malaysia, authentic rendang is nothing like a curry and doesn't contain curry powder.

Rendang is made from beef (or occasionally chicken, mutton, water buffalo meat or vegetables like jackfruit or cassava) slowly cooked in coconut milk and spices for several hours until almost all the liquid is gone, leaving the meat coated in the spicy condiments. The cooking process transitions from boiling to frying as the liquid is evaporated. The spices may include ginger, galangal, turmeric leaf, lemon grass and chillies. The slow cooking process allows the meat to absorb all the spices and to become tender.

There are two kinds of rendang: dried and wet. Dried rendang can be kept for 3–4 months, and it is for ceremonial occasions or to honor guests. Wet rendang, also known as kalio, can be found in Minangkabau restaurants and without refrigeration it should be consumed within a month. Rendang is often served with rice in Indonesia but in Malaysia it is served with ketupat (a compressed rice cake) and lemang (glutinous rice barbecued in bamboo tubes).

If you've never had rendang before and love spicy food, I truly recommend that you try this recipe. And don't be put off by the long simmering. After trying it out, I find that it's really not that difficult and is in fact easier than some recipes I've come across.


Beef Rendang (Spicy Coconut Beef Stew)
(Recipe courtesy from rasamalaysia.com)

Ingredients:

600g beef chunk or boneless short-rib beef (cut into 1 1/2" cubes)
5 Tbsp cooking oil
1 cinnamon stick (about 2" long)
3 cloves
3 star anise
3 cardamom pods
1 lemongrass (cut into 4-inch length and pounded)
1 cup thick coconut milk
1 cup water
2 tsp tamarind pulp (soaked in some warm water for the juice and discard the seeds )
6 kaffir lime leaves (very finely sliced)
6 Tbsp kerisik (toasted coconut)
1 Tbsp sugar/palm sugar or to taste
Salt to taste

Spice Paste to Grind:

5 shallots
1" galangal
3 lemongrass (white part only)
5 cloves garlic
1" ginger
10-12 dried chilies (soaked in warm water and de-seeded)

Method:

1) Chop the spice paste ingredients and then blend it in a food processor until fine.

2) Heat the oil in a stew pot, add the spice paste, cinnamon, cloves, star anise, and cardamom and stir-fry them until aromatic.

3) Add the beef and the pounded lemongrass and stir for 1 minute.

4) Add the coconut milk, tamarind juice and simmer on medium heat, stirring frequently until the meat is almost cooked.

5) Add the kaffir lime leaves, kerisik (toasted coconut), sugar/palm sugar, stirring to blend well with the meat.

6) Lower the heat to low, cover the lid, and simmer for 1 - 1 1/2 hours or until the meat is really tender and the gravy has dried up (I personally prefer to have some gravy left so that it'll go well with rice). Stir every so often to ensure that the gravy is not burnt.

7) Add salt to taste. If not sweet enough, add more sugar to taste.

8) Serve immediately with steamed rice and save some for overnight.

Note:

To prepare the kerisik or toasted coconut, just add the grated coconut to a dry wok and stir continuosly until they turn golden brown. After that using a mortar and pestel, pound the toasted coconut until oil develops.

Beef Rendang served with briyani rice and acar (pickled spicy vegetable)

Roast Chicken with a Thai Twist

We decided to eat in last weekend and have something simple, no fuss and no messy dishes to wash up! Don't you simply hate washing up especially on your "off day"! So I was thinking why not a simple roast chicken and salad. I asked my husband if he ever had a Thai version of roast chicken and the answer was no. Well, he's definitely going to love this one then!

Did you know that your Thai green curry paste could be used as a marinade for roasting chicken .. bet you didn't know this! The flavours of the green curry mixed with coconut milk gives an added sheen to your roast chicken, not forgetting the combined flavours of kaffir lime, sweet basil, lemongrass in the paste and a tinge of heat from the ground chillies! Wouldn't this be a great marinade for your normal roasted turkey for your Christmas dinner!



Roast Chicken with Green Curry Paste
(serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 1/2 kg chicken
1 cup coconut milk (you can substitute with milk)
3 Tbsp thai green curry paste
2 Tbsp fresh ginger, grated
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 tsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp palm sugar

Method:

1) Wash and pat dry the chicken.

2) Combine all ingredients into a bowl and mix thoroughly.

3) Pour mixture inside and over chicken.

4) Cover the chicken and allow to marinate in fridge for at least 2 hours (longer will be better)

5) Remove marinated chicken from the refrigerator. Transfer to a wire baking tray and let stand for 10 minutes. Reserve the marinade into a bowl to be used for basting the chicken.

6) Cover the top of the chicken with foil and bake in preheated oven of 200C for about 1 to 1 1/2 hours. After about 45 minutes into cooking time, remove the foil and roast the chicken uncovered in order to crisp up the skin. Baste the chicken with the marinade and continue roasting.

7) In the final 15 minutes of cooking time, remove chicken from the oven and pour the remaining marinade over the chicken. Continue to roast until cooked through. To test to ensure that the chicken is well cooked, use a fork to pierce into the chicken thigh and if no juices flow out, your chicken should be cooked.

8) Serve roast chicken with a side salad or with rice.

Chicken Briyani Rice with Vegetable Pickles

It was 10 pm on a Saturday night right after an early dinner and coffee with friends that my husband decided to take me to Mustafa. I am embarrassed to say that this is would be my 2nd trip to Mustafa even though I've stayed in Singapore for more than 15 years now.

For those who are not familiar with Mustafa, it is a 24-hour shopping mart located in a part of town called “Little India”. Why is this part of town called “Little India” you may ask. Well, Singapore first and foremost is a multi-racial and multi-cultural. Because of this, shops and eateries of different cultures will tend to predominantly operate at certain locations eg. Eu Tong Sen/Outram area is known as Chinatown, Kampung Glam/Arab Street is the Malay Muslim community and Serangoon is where you’ll find the Indian eateries and shops, thus the name “Little India”.

We also have a large number of non-professional migrant workers who come from third world countries hoping to earn a decent living here in order to support their families back home. A large percentage of these migrant workers would work in the building & construction sectors. On Sundays, which is their off day, they would congregate with their friends and fellow countrymen at various locations in Singapore, depending on the country they come from. The Indian nationale will gather at “Little India”, the Thais will hang out at Golden Mile Complex (the locals call this place “Little Thailand”) and the Burmese can be seen at Peninsular Plaza (“Little Burma”). It’s a sight to behold on weekends and usually we stay clear of these places on Sundays as it gets pretty crowded.


Shopping at Mustafa can be somewhat of a challenge especially on weekends, even more so if at night. The traffic around the area is bad and there are lots of people on the streets and inside the shopping mart. This six storey shopping space offers everything one could possibly need, from electronics and souvenirs, to clothes and fragrances. There is also a large supermarket on the second level that carries a range of food products that could rival any good supermarket, but at much cheaper prices! Mustafa attracts not only the locals but tourists as well. In fact it’s listed in some of the tourist guides which one can pick up at the airport upon arrival.

The aisles at Mustafa are narrow and because of the number of shoppers there, we had to squeeze our way around. This is certainly not a place for anyone who has a phobia of crowds or cramped areas! My mission that evening was to get some spices as I’d wanted to try my hand at cooking Briyani Chicken Rice. The recipe called for cinnamon sticks, cloves, cardoman pods, tumeric, garam masala and chilli powder. I also had to get among other items Basmati rice. We were stumped with the variety of Basmati rice being sold – I easily counted 15 types if not more. I didn’t know what to choose so my husband made the choice. His logic was the least brand of rice remaining in each rack means it’s the most popular. And it was true – we found that out when we checked out our groceries at the payment counter. Well being a man that he is, he had a smirk on his face upon hearing this.


We then headed to the spice area and I was totally blown away by the variety of spices and sauces. This is certainly spice heaven! I ended up with not only the spices I needed but other premix and sauces as well. With our shopping basket almost ¾ full, we headed towards the supermarket section. The frozen sections had 3 long open freezers for pratas, naan and leavened bread. They had so many varieties of pratas that I cannot even remember – plain prata, flaky prata, onion prata, prata filled with potato, spinach, peas, minced chicken, cheese, corn ….. We ended up loading the remaining empty space in our shopping basket with frozen pratas. By the time we finished and we only covered 2 floors it was already past 12.30am. I couldn’t believe that we had spent about 3 hours at Mustafa.

Here's the recipe for the chicken briyani rice with vegetable pickles. The recipe looks complicated but I can assure that it's really easy to prepare. I can attest to this as it's my 1st time attempting this dish.

Chicken Briyani Rice with Vegetable Pickles

Ingredients for the chicken:

1 chicken weighing about 1.5kg - cut into 4 pieces, wash and drain
4 slices ginger - 1 cm each (grind to smooth paste)
4 clovers garlic (grind to smooth paste)
1 red chillie and 1 green chillie -slit halfway
4 small tomatoes, cut into cubes
3 tbsp, slightly heaped meat curry powder
2 small bundles coriander leaves - chopped coarsely
Small bunch of mint leaves
4 tbsp plain yoghurt
1 tsp pepper
Salt to taste
1 1/2 cups water
10 tbsp ghee
1 big onion - sliced thinly
1 stick cinnamon - 4 cm (ingredient for frying)
4 cloves (ingredient for frying)
4 cardoman pods (ingredient for frying)
6 almonds - scald and remove skin (grind finely)
6 cashew nuts (grind finely)
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
2 medium sized onions - sliced thinly and fry until golden brown
2 tbsp briyani spices (can be bought in supermarket and places that sell spices)
1 bunch of small coriander leaves for garnishing

Ingredients for rice:

600 Basmati rice
1 small tin evaporated milk
2 tsp yellow food colouring
3 tsp rose water (I couldn't find this so I omitted this in my preparation)

Method of preparing chicken:

1) Combine chicken with garlic-ginger paste, chillies, tomatoes, meat curry powder, chopped coriander leves, mint leaves, yoghurt, pepper, salt and 1/2 cup water.

2) Heat ghee in a pot then add ingredients for frying. Fry until golden brown. Add chicken and fry for a little while, turning it over a few times. Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil.

3) When boiling, lower heat, add ground almond and cashew nuts. tomato paste, fried onion slices and briani spices. Turn over chicken pieces, then leave to simmer until almost dry.

4) Remove chicken from the pot and set aside. Skim the oil from the chicken curry into a bowl and leave to cool. This pot will be used for cooking the rice.

Method of preparing rice:

1) Bring 3/4 of a large saucepan of slightly salted water to boil. Wash and drain rice. When water is boiling, put in the rice and boil till it is almost cooked.

2) When rice is almost cooked, remove from heat and drain off water. Mix evaporated milk with the oil skimmed from the chicken curry.

3) Into the pot used to cook chicken, put a layer of rice then a layer of chicken. Repeat till chicken and rice are used up, making sure that rice forms the last layer. Pour the oil-milk mixture over the rice.

4) Mix rose water with yellow food colouring and sprinkle over rice. Scatter a few mint leaves over rice.

5) Cook over low heat making sure the pot is well covered till steam emits from pot. Do not uncover pot while rice is cooking. To prevent rice from burning you may raise the pot higher. Alternatively this last method of cooking the rice can also be done in a rice cooker.

6) When serving, garnish rice with fried cashew nuts, raisins and chopped coriander.

Vegetable Pickles (or Acar)

Ingredients:

300g cucumbers
100 g carrots
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons oil
4 slices ginger
1/2 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp sugar
1/4 tsp salt
2 tbsp vinegar

Method:

1) Cut cucumber in half lengthwise and remove the seeds. Cut flesh into 3.5 cm juliennes.

2) Mix 1 tsp salt with cucumbers, and let sit for 15 minutes to draw out the extra moisture.

3) Cut the carrot into pieces the same size as the cucumber.

4) Heat oil in a wok and add ginger and mustard seeds, cooking until mustard seeds pop. Stir in the turmeric and chili powder, then add the vegetables, sugar, and salt and saute for 2 minutes (do not overcook, the vegetables should stay crunchy).

5) Remove from heat and mix well with vinegar. Allow the vegetables to cool in the pan, then place in a jar. Refrigerate overnight before serving.