Chicken Curry

Chicken Curry

I cook and eat for reasons. Sometime just because I am simply hungry, or it's a request from my family, or I have the food ingredients that must be processed, ...or it could be anything.

Last week, I was in a mood of curry!
The reason was because I couldn't get the curry soup that we ordered while visiting a new interesting open air restaurant in Sentul City, West Java.

apung2 Ah Poong apung

It was one beautiful cloudy Saturday morning, when we decided to explore a new culinary place, just outskirt of Jakarta not too far from our home. It's only about 30 minutes journey by car.
The plan was for having a family brunch while enjoying fresh air away from the capital. Unfortunately, *probably because we arrived too early* when we ordered the food that we wanted to eat, we only got 75% of what we expected (& what we paid for). The delicious roti canai was served with curry sauce only, because the chicken was not available yet, even the menu says "Roti Canai with Chicken Curry".

Chicken Curry

I was not disappointed too much actually, because I got good Teh Tarik to accompany the dish, and we had overall beautiful experience there. Days after weekend, the idea to make my own chicken curry was flying around in my mind.
At the end... it was inspiring me for cooking homemade chicken curry.

Chicken Curry

My taste bud divides the curry into three different types; Indian Curry, Malay Curry, and Indonesian Curry. I used to  live in India and Malaysia before, and tried their curry for many-many times (for sure :D). This time, I decided to cook Malay type of curry.
I posted the Indonesian Chicken Curry recipe, about 2 year ago.

Where to find the recipe from?
Of course in the Malaysian Cooking Magazine. I remembered I collect 2 beautiful Flavours Magazine (written in English), and both are July-August edition, which is the Special 'Independence Day' Edition. One of them contains all kinds of fiery Malaysian curries recipes. The article explained the different of each type of their curries. Very interesting.

And for now, I chose the simple popular one; the Chicken Curry.

Chicken Curry

If you think that making curry is a mission impossible because it's too complicated to deal with lots of spices...oh please, I recommend you to try this recipe.
Using this recipe, other than pan and stove for cooking and the ingredients on the list below, all you need is a cutting board and a knife for cutting the chilies  garlic and onion. If you want to prepare your curry powder by yourself, then you need a grinder or a grinding stone. I use the convenienced pack curry powder.

Don't be surprised, when you put the spices ingredients one by one to a heated pan, at the same time you start to smell the beauty of aromatic curry.
*my daughter who just got back from school said, "Ah... I'm flying to India"*

I decided to skip the chili powder, so my children could enjoy this dish with us. That's why, the color of the curry is slightly pale, not too reddish. And instead of making roti canai, I prepared Roti Jala a.k.a Lacy Pancakes to accompany this curry.

IMG_4584curryIndg

Chicken Curry
This is the quintessential Malaysian curry, marrying Malay (pandan) and Indian (curry leaves) flavours. source : Flavours Magazine Malaysia, July-Aug 2007.

Ingredients:
800 gr meaty chicken pieces
50 gr meat curry powder (I used pre-packed curry powder)
1 tsp chili powder (optional)
3-4 tbsp cooking oil

Spice Mix
3 cm cinnamon stick
2 star anise
3 cloves
3 cardamoms
2 pandan leaves, knotted
2 big onions, sliced
2 green chilies, sliced
2 cloves garlic, sliced

750 ml water or more if needed
2 sprigs curry leaves
2 potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
1 tsp salt or to taste
200 ml thick coconut milk

Method :
Combine the chicken with the curry and chili powder. Set aside to marinate in the refrigerator until needed.

Heat oil in a wok or roomy sauce pan over medium heat and fry the spice mix, stirring frequently, until fragrant and onions are lightly browned. Add the marinated chicken and fry for about 2 minutes, turning frequently.

Pour in water and add the curry leaves; simmer for about 10 minutes before adding the potatoes. Cook until chicken and potatoes are tender. Thicken with the coconut milk and season to taste with salt.

When curry returns to a boil, turn off heat. Serve with rice or bread.

ChickenCurry1

IMG_4544RotiJala

Pic : The Lacy Pancake Mold
Lacy Pancakes / Roti Jala
Source : Primarasa Hidangan Indonesia Terlezat

Ingredients :
75 ml thick coconut milk
425 ml water
225 gr all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 small egg (50 gr), beat lightly
Oil for greasing the pan.

1. Mix coconut milk and water. Put the flour in a container, add salt, stir, then make a hole in the middle. Add the beaten eggs, stirring gradually while adding the diluted coconut milk until the dough is smooth and mixed well.

2. Strain the dough by using a wire sieve. Press with the back of a spoon if the dough is lumpy. The batter should not be too thick or too thin. Prepare a special mold to make the lacy pancakes.

3. Put a flat pan over low heat, basting with oil. Add the batter into the mold. Immediately turn the mold over the surface of the pan so the batter flow out of the mold and form holed nets. Let the the batter cooked, remove from pan. Repeat until the batter runs out.

4. Put the Lacy Pancake on a plate or cutting board, fold / roll.

5. Another way: if there is no bread mold nets, make a thin omelette, roll, and cut into pieces the size of 1 cm.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Allo Mbak Vania, ini Ah poong ada dimana2 yach. Adik saya baru kirim foto Ah Poong yang di situ lembang kalo ga salah...
Sungainya bersih yach, sungai apa nich di Sentul namanya?
Love the pic with all the ingredients...udah lama nich saya ga foto2 food..kayanya udah rusty deh :)
Ira Rodrigues said…
di sini ada roti chanai bu nana van, curry nya ala Malasia, kl aku pesen sll berpadu dg es teh tarik--duuh nikamatnya...

keren ya di jkt ada pasar mengapung.
I like your recipe and roti jala. ngilerrr...love your clicks as always!
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Fenchan said…
Mbak, daun kari tuh yg ada di foto mbak ya? Mirip daun ketumbar ya? Mbak ada resepnya roti canai? Mau donk.. ;)
Shura said…
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Unknown said…
Everything looks so delicious. I have something to share too. It'll be extremelly suitable for those who don't spend much time on the kitchen:
yummy.
By the way, I followed you up with GFC, it'd be great if you follow me back.
Vania said…
Hi lagi Roossy.
Ah-Poong ini sebenarnya nama pasar terapung. Aku baru tau yg ini, di Sentul City. Tapi seru jg kalo ada di tempat lain... at least ada tempat jalan2 lagi :D
Sungai Cikeas, Roos. Lumayan bersih, atau mgkn di'saring' dulu sebelum masuk area sini.
Food foto sekarang emang banyak 'rusty' ama low light Roos. Makanya vintage props lagi naik daun. Cuma yg ginian gak gitu laku untuk commercial food photos.

Ira... thank you.
Kalo kita ketemuan di Bali, meeting point-nya di warung Bu Nana ya Ra. Ntar gantian, aku yg nraktir deh :)
Pasar ngapung-nya letaknya antara Jakarta dan Bogor Ra. Lumayan buat alternatif jalan2. Cuma, karena tempat baru buka, rame banget.
Vania said…
Fenchan,
daun kari gak ada di foto. Bentuknya kayag daun jeruk, tapi ujungnya lebih runcing bentuknya. Aku belum pernah nyoba bikin roti canai. Sorry.
Ntar coba aku cari resepnya deh.

Snigdha, Alicia,
thanks for stopping by, and for you comments :)
it's great pleasure to see all these delicious food here,my mouth is filled with the salivation and I've enjoyed to see this. Keep on share stuff like this
Unknown said…
I'm pleased to meet you online, your blog is fantastic!
Your pictures are wonderful!!1
I'm trying to translate in english mi italian food blog!
You can find me here http://perleaiporchy-en.blogspot.it/
Bye!
Silvia
Unknown said…
Sorry, but i can't find the followuing button :(
Anonymous said…
Hai Vania & Rossy,
di bandung sekarang ada juga floating market seperti itu. Lokasinya di Lembang. Di jalan yang menuju arah ke Bandung setelah dari pasar lembang..

Salam, Hianny di Bandung
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tahir sumar said…
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