Curry Chicken

My mom likes to cook Chicken or Vegetables Curry when we go to her house fortnightly.
As usual, she likes to prepare a lot of "hae bee hiam" (dried shrimps with chillies, chilli padi and shallots). She will also add some candlenuts if she remembers to buy it from the dried food stall at the wet market.

Her original recipe is very simple. She doesn't use ginger, lemongrass and dried spices like Star Aniseeds and Cinnamon Sticks. Her Chicken Curry is unique and very popular in our family.

Fresh grated whole coconut, bought from a Indian stall at dry market.

I boiled the potatoes instead of fried.


Chicken Curry
Modified from my Mom’s recipe

Ingredients:
1kg Chicken piece
5 potatoes, boiled and peeled
1 carrot, peeled and cut into chunks ~ optional
1 packet of fried taupok (fried beancurd, 10 squares) ~ optional
(when we were young, in the 70s, my mom likes to add "fried pig's skin ~ aka bak puay in hokkien" into the curry.)
700ml Coconut milk (can use Kara brand in packet)

Spice Paste:
2 slices Old Ginger 老姜, chopped ~ can use galangal 蓝姜
A handful of Dried Shrimps 虾米, soaked and drained
2 Fresh chilies, seeded & chopped (my mom uses more dried chilies and chili padi)
A handful of Shallots, sliced

3 tbsp Baba’s brand meat curry powder
1 tbsp Chili powder

5 tbsp of cooking oil
1 piece 2-3cm Cinnamon stick
2 pieces Star Aniseeds
1 stalk Lemongrass, bruised, use the white part only
2 sprigs of Curry leaves

Seasoning:
1 tbsp of sugar
Salt to taste

Method:
Prepare the spice paste by putting all the ingredients into a mortar and use pestle to pound into a paste.

Heat oil in a large pot, fry the curry leaves, cinnamon, star aniseeds and lemongrass till fragrant. Add in the spice paste and gently stir-fry until fragrant.
Add in the chicken pieces, stir gently until well coated with the spice paste.

Add in the coconut milk, carrot, stir to mix well and simmer gently until cooked through.

Add cooked potatoes and seasonings to taste and then remove the pot from the heat and allow it to stand for a while before serving. Serve hot with toasted French bread or Steamed hot rice or cooked beehoon (rice vermicelli).