As soon as I stumbled upon this recipe for Kari Ayam, a Malaysian Chicken Curry, I knew I’d have to give it a go. So how did I get on?
Well… in true ‘me’ style, I didn’t make the recipe quite as written. (Sorry!) So the first thing you should do is head on over to iamafoodblog.com and check out the original recipe for Kari Ayam: Malaysian Chicken Curry.
So why am I even writing about this recipe, when I didn’t do what I should have done? Because I did use the bones of the recipe and it tastes so very very good. So if it’s that delicious when I didn’t 100% follow the instructions, it’s definitely a winner.
Right then, what did I do?
I halved everything because I only wanted to make a dish for two people. I swapped out fresh lemongrass for the version in a jar, as well as the ginger.
Yes, I know! But I like things in jars for this sort of thing. Jarred products last longer, they’re always in my fridge and I don’t have to worry about trying to get to supermarkets. I work full time and I just don’t have the energy to do a regular evening food hunt before getting home to cook. Cooking something tasty shouldn’t only be about your ability to get fresh things daily.
There’s one really good reason why my curry doesn’t look like it should have: I used chicken breast, not thighs.
This meant I entirely skipped frying the chicken, skin side down. Because I skipped that, there was no browning action going on in the pan. No colour on the chicken? That means there’s nothing browned to change the shade of the sauce. It also means I lost some flavour in the finished dish. But I only had skinless chicken breast in the house and I’m not a huge fan of chicken on a bone!
As chicken breast cooks faster than thighs, I didn’t marinate the chicken. Instead, I fried the paste off in the pan first, before adding the chopped up potatoes. I opted to put the chicken in at the end, so it didn’t overcook.
For the potatoes, I used 4 small ones, rather than halving it to 2. I’m not sure what kind of potato was used in the original recipe, but I had some Jersey Royals left over that’d only go to waste. So that’s what I went with! FYI: Jersey Royals are a seasonal new potato in the UK, they’re a waxy sort and hold their shape well. Think along the lines of salad potatoes like Charlotte.
Using Google, I worked out that 1.5 cups of coconut milk (then halved) would be about 175ml. My coconut milk comes in tins of 165ml and I made up the shortfall with chicken stock. Speaking of which… the recipe calls for 1/2 cup of chicken stock, or 1/4 of a cup when halved. I actually ended up using more like 150ml of chicken stock to get the sauce consistency I wanted.
When the potatoes were a few minutes away from being ready, I added in the sliced chicken breast pieces. The whole dish bubbled along, simmering until the meat and potatoes were cooked through.
All in all, it took about 30 minutes to put together. The original recipe, complete with chicken thighs and marinating time, takes 1 hour 30 minutes.
So is my finished dish right, according to the recipe? Hell no.
Is it tasty? Absolutely.
Would I make it again? Already have!
This is a delicious chicken curry. It’s spicy, coconuttily creamy and incredibly comforting. It made the house smell mouthwateringly good for hours afterwards!
It’s also a really simple dish, whether you follow the original instructions or butcher the recipe up like I did. Remember: Never ever be put off making a dish like this because your ingredients don’t exactly match the recipe! Curries are wonderfully flexible dishes.
Malaysian Chicken Curry
Based on the iamafoodblog.com recipe for Kari Ayam: Malaysian Chicken Curry, this version uses chicken breasts and is ready in about 30 minutes.
Course: Main Course
Servings: 2
Ingredients
Spice Paste
- 1.5 tsp Lemongrass Paste
- 1/2 tbsp Ginger, Minced
- 2 cloves Garlic
- 1 Shallot, peeled and roughly chopped
- 1 Red Thai Chilli, green stalk removed
- 1/2 tbsp Curry Powder
- 1/4 tsp Ground Turmeric
- 1/4 tsp Crushed Chilli Flakes
- 1 tbsp Sunflower or Vegetable Oil
Everything Else
- 2 Chicken Breasts, Skinless
- 4 Small Waxy Potatoes (like Charlotte)
- 1/2 tbsp Sunflower or Vegetable Oil
- 1 Cinnamon Stick
- 1 Star Anise
- 2 Dried Kaffir Lime Leaves
- 165 ml Coconut Milk
- 150 ml Chicken Stock
- Fish Sauce and Light Brown Sugar to Season
Instructions
- Put all the ingredients for the Spice Paste in a food processor and blend until fairly smooth.
- Cut the chicken breast into slices, approximately half a centimetre thick (5mm).
- Wash the potatoes. Peel them if desired. (Though this isn’t essential with small new potatoes, you may not want to have any potato skin in your dish. It’s up to you!) Chop the potatoes into small, bite sized chunks.
- Put a large, high sided pan on a medium heat. Add 1/2 tbsp of oil, then add the spice paste. Fry gently for a minute or so, until the paste becomes fragrant.
- Add the potatoes to the spice mixture, stirring to coat well. Cook for another 30 seconds, then add the cinnamon stick, star anise, lime leaves, coconut milk and 100ml of chicken stock to the pan.
- Simmer gently for about 10-12 minutes, then test the potatoes with a fork. They should be starting to soften up, but chunkier potatoes will take longer to cook.
- Once the potatoes are softening, add the sliced chicken. Stir well and simmer the curry until both the chicken and potatoes are cooked through. Adjust as necessary with more stock to give you the amount of sauce you’d prefer.
- Once the chicken and potatoes are cooked, have a taste of and season as you like with fish sauce and light brown sugar. Serve and enjoy!
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