Poh’s Nyonya Chicken Curry Recipe

Preparation Time 30 minutes
Cooking Time 30 minutes
Serves 5-6

INGREDIENTS 
3 TBS coconut cream
10 sprigs of curry leaves
1 star anise
2 whole cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 1/2 kg chicken thigh fillets
500g baby chat potatoes, peeled, halved and parboiled
2 bird’s eye chillies deseeded and halved lengthways
500ml coconut milk
1 TBS salt
1 tsp sugar

Rempah (wet spice paste)
3 Tbs ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground fennel
15 dried long red chillies*, deseeded*, soaked in boiling water until soft, drained and chopped
20g belacan
25g fresh turmeric root, peeled and sliced
3 cloves garlic, peeled, sliced
270g red eschallots OR Spanish onion, peeled, sliced
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Coconut Rice
2 cups jasmine rice
2 cups coconut milk
1 3/4 cup water
1 pandan leaf shredded by hand and tied into a knot
1/2 tsp salt

* Dried chillies: There are several types of dried chillies. For this recipe please choose the type that are about finger sized. The smaller ones are very hot and the broader, larger ones mild. Also please never replace dried chillies with fresh ones as they don’t impart the smokiness of flavour and depth of colour required for this dish.

* Deseeding chillies – Before soaking, snip chillies into quarter segments with scissors into a colander with largish holes and then shake the seeds out.

METHOD
1 To make the rempah, blend the rempah ingredients until you achieve a fine paste.
2 Heat heavy based saucepan or wok, to a medium heat. Add rempah, coconut cream, curry leaves, star anise, cloves and cinnamon stick and saute for about 10 minutes. You will know the paste is ready when it thickens, darkens in colour and the oil begins to separate from the mixture. Add chicken pieces and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add potatoes, chillies, coconut milk, salt and sugar. Cover and simmer until chicken and potatoes are cooked through.
3 For coconut rice, add water and coconut milk in a saucepan and bring to the boil. Add rice, and pandan leaf and return to the boil, then reduce heat to medium and stir well. Cover and cook for 20 minutes. Drain and fluff with a fork.

The Carousel thanks MasterChef favourite, author and TV presenter & the Malaysia Airlines Ambassador Poh Ling Yeow for this recipe!