Home Cooked Curry Chicken

[Baloo]

Funny... I tot I'd brought this up...

oh well...

everyone was at home so i cooked...

one packet of A1 all mixed up curry mix (hee hee hee..)

one slab frozen chicken drum sticks from some middle eastern country... about 12 pieces, smallish. ($4.10 from ntuc)

5 american potatoes - bigger, whiter in texture, softer...

5 small sized carrots

half a ball of cabbage (those cheeep type - almost football sized $1.50 from ntuc)

extra lemon grass... your choice.

onions! 2 big white ones, 4 medium purple ones

thaw and marinate the chicken drum sticks with some salt and grated ginger - this to remove the chicken bo which is especially strong with imported chicken... you are also free to add one or two tablespoons of hua tiew chinese wine... mix well and put in fridge (covered of course... unless you want to smell up your fridge)

chop up the onions. peel and cut up the potatoes and carrots to your sizes you like.

onions put aside,

in a pot, boil the carrots and potatoes for about 10 minutes. do not drain the water... it can be used with the curry.

in another pot, with some salt and oil, blanche the cabbage (you should have also chopped these up to size which you would like to see/eat in your curry) Drain and leave aside.

in a wok, add liberal amount of oil and fry in the curry mix and extra lemon grass till fragrant... add in the onions to fry as well...

put your chicken pieces and any juice into the final big pot for the curry - mind you... you really need a big pot... else you must adjust your ingredients accordingly to fit - with the curry sauce!!

pour the fried mix and onions into the chicken pieces and start heating at medium heat.

the water from the carrot and potatoes (shud still be piping hot) be poured in carefully and mix with the chicken, sauce and onions. do not add in the carrots and potatoes - they are already cooked...

let the pot reach a simmering boil - do stir it frequently to help the heat mix and cook... when you think you are ready (estimated 20 minutes - else your chicken drum sticks may not be fully cooked...) add in your carrots, potatoes and cabbage. optional to add ladies' fingers, brinjal etc...

your pot shud be quite full by now... stir carefully... let it cook a bit (remember - carrots and veg all cooked leow, no need to cook so long - 3 minutes or until the curry boils slowly is enough... if it looks too dry, add a bit of water... not too much.

on slow simmer, add in your 250mg of packet santan... more if you like it... usually i just use one medium packet. Stir a bit and cover .. let it go to a full boil slowly... and

walla... you are ready...

taste it a bit to see if the curry is to your taste. too salty, add a bit of sugar (2-3 teaspoon to taste...) do stir and taste again to confirm...

it's a nice and tasty dish... not too ex, and at this volume, can last a single person a week hahaha... ok ok... we finished it in 3 sittings... the three of us... no joke...

[sianned]

I would add some coconut cream or evaporated milk to the curry. :thumb:

[Baloo]

I did... it's called santan by the way...

[sianned]

Oops...I did not see that...lol.

[bigis4me]

Hi there baloo, Just a question of the veggies, why do you need to boil them first instead of cooking it together with the other ingredients? And may i ask what type of chiken curry is this , as from the ingredients I feel abit of indian,malay and amybe even thai?

[Baloo]

hi big

thanks for your question...

just my preference... usually i dun like to cook veg for too long a time, nor meats.

if you cook the curry with the potatoes and veg separate, once your curry has cooked the chicken, adding on the rest of the veg means your dish is almost ready. just add santan and cook a bit more can eat already.

if you put raw veg into the curry after the chicken is cooked, you got to wait for the veg to soften esp potatoes and carrots... while the chicken gets overcooked. if you try to time it... it might not work so well for those who dun cook this regularly... sol why waste the effort right?

and the cabbage... if you cook it raw into the curry, some of the 'fishy' smell from the veg may go into the curry... which i dun like... so... i do them separate...

plus after adding everything in, the pot is gonna be extremely full ... no space to stir even... unless you have a really huge pot...

so for a mixture of reasons... i do them separately...

hope that answers your question...

Edited October 30, 2008 by Baloo