Curry Day: Chicken & Potato Curry

"Hooray! Hooray! It’s a curry-curry day
What a world of fun for everyone, curry-curry day
Hooray! Hooray! It’s a curry-curry day
Sing a curry song, skip along, curry-curry day"

To be honest, I don't know why the above Boney M song has been spinning in my head since last night after I cooked my pot of curry....And while cooking, I cannot help but agree that we Singaporeans do get our priorities right when it comes to food! I mean, where in the world would curry be making such huge headlines all around the world!

Anyways, I know I'm supposed to cook it only on Sunday, but I decided to start the night before simply because, curry usually tastes better after you keep it overnight. All I have to do is heat it up again and simmer it on slow boil prior to our iftar dinner tomorrow, and the curry will be richer in taste. As they saying goes, "Good Curry, No Hurry!" (OK I am super lame queen of the week!)

As I am writing this in my bid to post a pciture of my chicken and potato curry dish in support of Cook and Share a Pot of Curry, I also realised that I actually have not posted my curry recipe despite making it for hundred of times now.

So here goes, and I hope you like it as much as we do.

Ingredients A:

• 1-1.5 kg of chicken (cut in pieces)
• 4 potatoes quartered
• springs of curry leaves
• 2 tomatoes (cut in half - optional)
• Carrots (optional)
• 2 red chillies sliced
• 6 red shallots (sliced finely)
• 5-7 tbsp curry powder (I use a Singapore brand called "Earthen Pot" which my parents kindly hauled several packets for me when they come by for a visit)
• 250ml coconut cream (otherwise known as santan in Malay)
• A thumbsized tamarind paste
• some olive oil
• About 500 ml of water
• Salt to taste

 

Ingredients B (to be blended):

• 4 cloves garlic
• 2 large red onions
• About 10 pieces blanched almonds
• 1 thumbsie piece of ginger
• 2 candlenuts (alternative: brazil nut or macadamia nut)
• 4-6 pieces fenugreek (biji halba)
• 1 tspn black mustard seeds

 

Method:

1. Blend all ingredients in B and set aside
2. Marinade chicken with some of the blended paste for about 15 minutes
3. Separately dissolve the taarind paste in about half a cup of hot water to extract tamarind juice - set aside
4. Heat the pot, and when warm enough, roast the curry powder (without oil) until fragrant and slightly brown (be careful not to burn it!). Add curry leaves and shallots - stir fry for about 5 minutes
5. Add in the blended ingredients to the curry powder and mix them altogether
6. Put in a generous portion of olive oil into the mixture and fry them for another 10-15 minutes.
7. Add in the chicken and potatoes and mix them in
8. Add in about 500 ml of water to make a gravy(more water if you prefer it to be more diluted), salt to taste and tamarind juice prepared earlier
9. Cover and simmer for about 20-30 minutes
10. Add in coconut milk and tomatoes15 minutes before removing it from the heat
11. Remove from heat when chicken is tender and serve hot

My curry bubblign away on the stove...

Chicken and Potato Curry served hot for dinner!

Note:
My first curry recipe actually came from the back of the package of "Earthen Pot" Curry Powder, and over the years, I have experimented and modified the original recipe a bit here and there in my bid to get that perfect and addictive curry taste. What really made a difference was the use of fenugreek, mustard seeds, and most importantly that dash of tamarind!

āp kā khānā svādiṣṭa ho! (Apparently google says this is "Bon Appetite" when said in Hindi)