I serve my chicken curry with anything – steaming hot white rice, roti canai (paratha) or roti jala (“lacey pancakes”). I love it as an everyday meal, during Eid or other special occasions when I have a gathering.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 6 – 8 

2 kg chicken, cut into pieces (we like it skin off)
1 medium-sized onion (140 gms)
6 cloves garlic
5 cm fresh ginger
3 tbsp curry powder
2 tsp chilli powder (optional)
2 – 3 large potatoes
1 piece tamarind
Thick “santan” (coconut milk) made with 45 gms coconut powder and 1 1/2 cups water
Thin “santan” made with 45 gms coconut powder and 2 1/4 cups water
1 tsp salt

5 cardamom
2 pieces cinnamon approx 2” long
2 star anise
6 cloves
2 sprigs curry leaves
Vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

Wash the chicken and drain. Peel the potato and cut into 4 cm chunks. Soak in water.

Cube the onion and garlic and slice the ginger then use a blender to blend them. Add a tablespoon of water if necessary. Add the curry powder and chilli powder to the blended ingredients and mix well into a thick paste. Prepare the thin and thick “santan” and put aside.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a non-stick pot and fry the dry spices and curry leaves. When fragrant add the curry powder and blended ingredients and mix well. Add a little water and mix as its frying.

When most of the liquid is gone, add one third of the thin santan and the chicken. Stir well to make sure the chicken pieces are well-coated with the curry mixture and let this cook till aromatic and “oily”. Add the rest of the thin santan, mix well and bring to the boil on medium heat. Lower the heat, add the salt and let it simmer till the chicken is tender.

In a separate pot, boil the potatoes until tender, drain and put it aside.

When chicken is tender, add the thick santan and tamarind and bring to the boil, then remove from heat. The curry should “pecah minyak” i.e. have a coating of oil on top – see photo above.

* This is where I use my little trick: instead of boiling on the hob, I transfer to a pyrex dish, cover and cook in microwave at high for 4 mins to get a perfect finish.

Add the cooked potatoes and let the curry stand for at least 15 minutes before serving. The longer the better.

I serve my chicken curry with anything – steaming hot white rice, roti canai (paratha) or roti jala (“lacey pancakes”). I love it as an everyday meal, during Eid or other special occasions when I have a gathering.

INGREDIENTS
Serves 2 – 3 

1 kg chicken, cut into pieces (we like it skin off)
1/2 medium-sized onion (70 gms)
3 cloves garlic
2 1/2 cm (1”) fresh ginger
1 1/2 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp chilli powder (optional)
1 large potato
1 piece tamarind
Thick “santan” (coconut milk) made with 25 gms coconut powder and 3/4 cup water
Thin “santan” made with 25 gms coconut powder and 1 1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp salt

3 cardamom
1 piece cinnamon approx 2” long
1 star anise
3 cloves
1 sprig curry leaves
Vegetable oil

DIRECTIONS

Wash the chicken and drain. Peel the potato and cut into 4 cm chunks. Soak in water.

Cube the onion and garlic and slice the ginger then use a blender to blend them. Add a tablespoon of water if necessary. Add the curry powder and chilli powder to the blended ingredients and mix well into a thick paste. Prepare the thin and thick “santan” and put aside.

Heat enough oil to cover the bottom of a non-stick pot and fry the dry spices and curry leaves. When fragrant add the curry powder and blended ingredients and mix well. Add a little water and mix as its frying.

When most of the liquid is gone, add one third of the thin santan and the chicken. Stir well to make sure the chicken pieces are well-coated with the curry mixture and let this cook till aromatic and “oily”. Add the rest of the thin santan, mix well and bring to the boil on medium heat. Lower the heat, add the salt and let it simmer till the chicken is tender.

In a separate pot, boil the potatoes until tender, drain and put it aside.

When chicken is tender, add the thick santan and tamarind and bring to the boil, then remove from heat. The curry should “pecah minyak” i.e. have a coating of oil on top – see photo above.

* This is where I use my little trick: instead of boiling on the hob, I transfer to a pyrex dish, cover and cook in microwave at high for 4 mins to get a perfect finish.

Add the cooked potatoes and let the curry stand for at least 15 minutes before serving. The longer the better.

So one day in 2009, I followed her around her wet kitchen, watched her, weighed and measured everything, took pictures and took notes! And this post is the result.

After recipising it, I tried cooking it on my own at the apartment and the result was…..THIS…fish curry that looked and tasted exactly like Mummy’s!

INGREDIENTS

2 – 3 slices of “ikan tenggiri” or king fish
2 tomatoes, quartered
2 – 3 ladies’ fingers, each cut into two
3 – 4 fresh “belimbing”, if available
1 strip of fresh curry leaves or a handful of dried leaves as substitute
25 gms curry powder (Babas curry powder is great!)
25 gms of “santan” powder (coconut milk powder, “Santan” brand or other)
Golf ball size “asam jawa” (tamarind pulp)

This is how to prepare the curry in pictures:

Serve hot with white rice!

We have a new maid, Malika, and seeing as I was leaving for KL in a couple of days, I asked if she would cook me a chicken curry which I can freeze in portions..and she did that today. I had some for lunch and….IT WAS AMAZING!

Its a bit different from the way I have been cooking curry and I think its healthier and lower in calories because it doesn’t use coconut milk. So, I had it with roti canai…altogether less than 600 calories!

INGREDIENTS

1 chicken, skin off, bone in, cut in 12 pieces

1 medium-sized onion, chopped

1 whole garlic, peeled and minced

2 thumb-sized pieces of fresh ginger

2 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp chilli powder

2 cloves cardamom

1 stick cinnamon, about 2 1/2” long

6 fresh, green bird chillies, sliced

1 sprig curry leaves

3 pieces pandan (screwpine) leaves, each 3” long

1 medium-sized tomato, cubed

350 gm potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

1 Maggi chicken or beef cube

6 tbsp Heinz tomato sauce (not tomato ketchup!)

1 1/2 glasses hot water

2 tbsp oil

DIRECTIONS

Heat the oil on a medium fire, then fry the garlic. Leave to simmer on low heat and when aromatic, add onions, chilli, ginger, spices, Maggi cube, curry leaves and pandan leaves. Mix well and allow to simmer on low heat until all the liquid is gone.

Add chicken pieces, mix well to coat them in the onions etc, cover and let simmer until all the water is dry.

Add the cubed tomatoes, curry powder and chilli powder, mix well and leave to simmer, uncovered.

When slightly dry, add the tomato sauce, hot water and potatoes. Leave to simmer with the cover tilted until the potatoes are cooked. Add salt if necessary.

Serve with rice, bread or roti canai.