Chicken Curry

I cooked this dish last Sunday.  My wife invited her mom and her sisters over for dinner.  As always, I will have to rake my head thinking of what to dish out.  And...as always, I will spend hours and hours thinking and surfing the net searching for ideas and after what seems like ages I finally come out with NOTHING!  No choice, my wife will have to come to my rescue and give her suggestion and I will always be like "Oh! Why didn't I think of that?" Useless bugger!!

So, this time round - chicken curry.  Well, this is my second attempt cooking a chicken curry after my disastrous shot on my kids' birthday gathering, exactly a year back.  I could still recall one of my guests asked, "who cooked this curry? Taste funny la..!"  &%$#@#$#

Well, I am proud to say that I have somehow succeeded this time round after I surprisingly received a thumbs up from my brother-in-law for the dish.  However, to say that this is the best curry I have ever tasted is perhaps an overstatement and a far cry. 

Of course, there are many variations of curries ie the Chinese, the Malay, the Nyonya or the Indian style.  Which does this version fall into?  I have no idea.  But why bother?  Nobody is going to say "I like the Indian/the Chinese curry I ate yesterday!"  If the curry is good, they will always say, "OMG, I love Kuan Yoon's curry yesterday!" So, who cares which curry you adopt?  Just adapt, add, mix and match.  Make it your own and that's exactly what I did on this dish!  There are scores of recipes on the net that will leave you spoilt for choices.  I simply did not know which to choose from.  All seemed so good.  So, the easy way out was I dug out the kiasu itch in me and used everything that caught my eyes.  I know that this may not work all the time but for this time round, it did!
 
Anyway, I adapted the recipe from Choesf from Happyhomemaker88 here, with quite a bit of modification.  Apparently, it was her mother-in-law's recipe.  It's nice to see recipes being passed down to our loved ones.  Although we may not be around, at least our food continues to provide comfort to the family.  I am now wondering what my future daughter-in-law will say about me once I am gone.  Will she say:

"Thank God, luckily I managed to learn from that senile old man how to cook 
his chicken curry before he kicked the bucket!"

The Ingredients:
3 whole chicken legs, cut up and marinate with 2 tbsps salt and 3 tbsps curry powder
3 large potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks deep fry in oil until half cooked *(I didn't deep fry)
2 large onions, peeled and cut into chunks
15 shallots, chopped

1 cinnamon stick*(I added this)
2 star anise*(I added this)
curry paste (pls see below for recipe)
2 cups coconut milk (mix 3/4 of the thick coconut milk with 2 cups of water, reserve the 1/4 left for later use)*(I only used 1 1/2 cup)

1 bunch curry leaves*(I used 5 sprigs)
2 stalks of lemon grass/serai – smashed a bit to release its aromatic oils
2 pcs tamarind slice/asam keping*(I added this to give the curry a little sourish tang)

Curry paste
5 tbsps curry powder, 
5 candlenuts/buah keras, 
5 cloves garlic, 
1 inch knob of fresh ginger, 
3 fresh red chilies 
(all blended) 

Method -
1) In a hot wok, heat up 1/2 cup (125 ml)  of oil and fry shallots, star anise & cinnamon stick 
    until golden and aromatic.

2) Add in the curry paste and keep stirring to prevent burning until the oil separates from 
    the paste and it is very aromatic, about 5 minutes or so. This gives the curry a rich, 
    bright orange colour when it is cooked.

3) Add in the marinated chicken pieces and stir fry until it is half cooked – this is to 
    seal in the chicken juices and make the chicken fragrant and tasty

4) Next, add in the half-cooked potatoes, large onions, lemon grass, tamarind slices 
    and curry leaves.

5) Give them a good stir for about 2 minutes.

6) Pour in the diluted 3 and 3/4 cups of coconut milk. My rule of thumb for this is 
    to make sure that the coconut milk is enough to just cover the chicken and potatoes.

7) Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to medium to simmer the curry for about 
    25 to 30 minutes, until the chicken is tender, the potatoes soft. 
    Remember to stir the curry often to prevent burning. Add a little more water if 
    the curry appears to be drying up.

8 ) When the curry is ready, season with salt and pour in the last 1/4 cup of 
     thick coconut milk. The coconut milk loses most of its aroma when boiled for a while,
     and by adding a bit of thick coconut milk at the last minute gives the curry a 
     richer, aromatic taste.  

KL Chilli Pan Mee

Our palate can sometimes be unreasonably picky and weird.  For the past three weeks (just imagine, 3 WEEKS!) I have had a dire crave for Chilli Pan Mee.  It just happens for NO REASON!  Weird!  Almost twice a week I would have to please my palate with pan mee.  Well, yesterday I finally drew the curtain on.  I walloped two bowls of pan mee in a day - one at lunch and one at dinner.  That somehow cloyed my appetite and it was the last straw - it's time I call it quit!  No more pan mee for 1 month...or 2 weeks...or perhaps 5 days?? Well.......you see!  Weird!

I first had my chilli pan mee about three years back in this restaurant here, called Restoran Super Kitchen Chilli Pan Mee in Taipan, USJ, thanks to my eldest sister, Iris for bringing me there.  I would say it wasn't a love-at-first-sight kind of encounter.  It took me quite a while, after about 2-3 visits to this restaurant before I acquired the taste and eventually lurved this KL-born treat.  It was entirely different for my son where the taste almost instantly hit him and bingo, loved it!  

In Malacca, pan mee is not really that popular, well I can say not popular AT ALL!  It's normally called mee hoon kueh or in my Baba-nyonya language, kueh cubit-cubit (sorry if I'm wrong but my family has been calling it by that name ever since).  The shape is different in that the noodle is torn apart (from the dough), flatten and stretched to the desired thickness with the fingers. That's the reason some call it hand-torn noodles.  As a matter of fact, KL pan mee is seriously gaining its following here in Malacca.  Stalls selling pan mee are mushrooming steadily in food courts.  Whatever it is, KL's pan mee still fares better in taste.  But one thing the both have in common and I believe many would agree with me - eating pan mee can really be addictive! 

Well, let's come back to my experience in making my own pan mee.  To put it simply, the experience was frighteningly laborious!  The next time, I would rather buy it outside!  I spent the whole morning making just three bowls.  Making the chilli paste took me about 1 hour.  Making the dough including letting it set in the fridge was another 45 mins.  Making the minced meat ingredient stole another 45 mins.  Making the soup and poaching the eggs took another 30 mins.  And the worst part was making the noodles (I manually handmade them, strand by strand), 1 more hour.  Luckily, assembling everything was just a miniscule 5 mins.  And luckily also, it was for my wife and children.  Had it for other people, I would have cursed and sworn! 

Generally, I am quite satisfied with what came out.  Although the work was painstakingly time-consuming, the satisfaction eating what you have laboured for hours made all the efforts paid off.  What excites me when eating pan mee is when I puncture the egg yolk and mix everything together.  Looking at how the runny egg yolk oozes out and blends with the other condiments and eventually makes up the sauce just fires the taste buds and salivates the mouth.  Aarhh, heavenly! 

Now, here's the recipe:

The Recipe:

(Serves 4)
(I adapted from Swee San from The Sweet Spot)

A) Dry Chilli Paste

      2 handful of Dried Chillies, soaked

      2 Fresh red chillies

      2 Fresh Chilli Padies (or more if you want even more
         kick) - I omitted this

      1 palm of Dried Shrimp

      5 Shallots or 2 Medium Onions

      4 tablespoons of Oil

      Blend the ingredients, you might need to add a little
      bit of oil to help the blender

      Then transfer into a pan on low heat, fry slowly until
      dry and golden brown. 

      Make sure you keep a close watch over it and stir it
      quite often so it doesn’t burn. This takes about
      30 mins. 

      Once completed, set aside to cool.

B) The Noodles

     500g bread flour

     480ml water

     Pinch of salt

     Mix flour, salt and water together in a mixer with 
     a dough attachment and knead for 5 minutes. 
     Cover in cling film and let it rest for 30 minutes.  
     I kneaded it manually by hand. 

     Cut into 4 portions. Roll out on pasta machine. 
     You can use the thin or thick setting, or cut by hand.

C) The Minced Pork

• 300g of minced pork
• 1 tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 tsp light soya sauce
• 1 tsp dark soya sauce
• Dash of salt
• Dash of pepper
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp oil
• ¼ cup water

1. Marinate minced pork with all the sauce.
2. On a pan, fry garlic in oil. Add in the minced pork and cook. Add salt and pepper.
3. Add water or stock and let it cook till the sauce simmers down

D) The Soup

• 1L water
• 1 handful of anchovies
• Salt & pepper
• Manicai or baby spinach

1. Boil water and anchovies in a pot. You can add in stock cubes if you want. Season.
2. As for manicai (pucuk manis) or spinach, you can blanch it before serving.

E) Assembly

• Poached Egg
• Fried Anchovies
• Coriander leaves

1. Wash anchovies, dry it well, then fry it. This can be made in advance.
2. Poach egg, scoop out and set aside.
3. Cook noodles in the same pot of water till its springy and floats on top.
4. So first, add noodles. Add 1 tbsp chili (or more), minced meat, fried anchovies, poached eggs and sprinkle some coriander leaves on top.

Happy trying!!

Ayam Buah Keras (Candlenut Chicken)

I never know that candlenuts can become one of the main ingredients in a dish.  As far as I know, candlenuts (or in Malay it is called buah keras) are used in traditional Asian dishes (mainly in Malaysia and Indonesia) to thicken sauces ie satay and sambal.  The nut is similar in flavour (though much bitter) and texture to a macadamia nut, which similarly has a high oil content.

Buah Keras / Candlenuts

The other day, I was browsing through for a nyonya chicken curry recipe that my late mother used to cook for me and incidentally I stumbled upon this one over here from My Kitchen Snippets.  At one glance, it looked similar to the recipe that I was looking for.  I clicked, went in and instantly had my heart set on cooking this dish, of course still assuming that it was THE recipe I was looking for.

However, in the midst of preparing the dish, I realized that I was cooking something else.  While dishing out onto the plate, I knew that it's gonna be a good one, based on the texture, consistency, color and aroma.

Then came the moment of truth!  My wife took her first bite..........mmm, okay-lah, cukup rasa (tasty enough)!  As her usual self, always stingy with her compliments, I still could not assume the dish had convinced her.........U-N-T-I-L she took the second piece.  PHEW!!  I gave out a small sheepish smile.

In the evening, on the dining table, my eldest who had just come back from school tried the dish together with steamed rice.  After his last spoon, he went up straight to my wife and blurted out..........."mummy, can you please ask papa to cook some more?"   

So, here it is, two 'likes' from two of the most important people in my family.  Humbly, I have somehow succeeded in this dish that I feel it's worth trying if you are looking for a nyonya chicken dish.....yes, Ayam Buah Keras/Candlenut Chicken.

The Recipe:

The ingredients:

Kaffir Lime Leaves

600g chicken, cleaned and cut into small pieces
Candlenut paste (please refer to the recipe below)
1 Lemongrass, slightly smashed
2 pcs Kaffir lime leaves
3/4 cup of water
Salt to taste
Sugar to taste


Method:
1. Heat about 4-5 tablespoon of oil and put in the candlenut paste and fry
     until fragrant (this normally take about 10 minutes).  Use low to medium
     heat and be careful not to burn the paste.
2. Add in the chicken pieces, kaffir lime leaves and lemongrass  Coat the chicken
    with the paste and keep stirring until the chicken turns opaque.
3. Add in salt, sugar, and some water and stir every now and then.
4. Cook until the chicken is done and gravy thickens slightly.  If the chicken is not
    cooked but the gravy is starting to dry up, you can add more water.
5. Dish out and serve.

Preparing the Candlenut Paste:
   100g fresh chilies (about 10 pcs)
   5 candlenuts
   100g shallots (about 10-12 pcs)
    8g fresh turmeric/kunyit hidup (about 2 inches)
    10g shrimp paste/belacan
    oil
    water

Method:
1. De-seed the fresh chillies if you do not like the paste to be too spicy.
    Cut the chillies, shallots and turmeric for easy blending.
2. Put all the ingredients into a blender and add a little water.  Blend
    into fine paste and set it aside.

BON APPETITE!

The nut is similar (though “rougher”) in flavor and texture to the macadamia nut, which has a similarly high oil content. - See more at: http://theepicentre.com/spice/candlenut/#sthash.cVQyqKJU.dpuf

The nut is similar (though “rougher”) in flavor and texture to the macadamia nut, which has a similarly high oil content. It is mildly toxic when raw. - See more at: http://theepicentre.com/spice/candlenut/#sthash.cVQyqKJU.dpuf

The nut is similar (though “rougher”) in flavor and texture to the macadamia nut, which has a similarly high oil content. It is mildly toxic when raw. - See more at: http://theepicentre.com/spice/candlenut/#sthash.cVQyqKJU.dpuf

The nut is similar (though “rougher”) in flavor and texture to the macadamia nut, which has a similarly high oil content. It is mildly toxic when raw. - See more at: http://theepicentre.com/spice/candlenut/#sthash.cVQyqKJU.dpuf

The nut is similar (though “rougher”) in flavor and texture to the macadamia nut, which has a similarly high oil content. It is mildly toxic when raw. - See more at: http://theepicentre.com/spice/candlenut/#sthash.cVQyqKJU.dpuf