Curry Chicken

Today decided to curry chicken for dinner using another blogger's recipe.  Thank you Alan for your recipe.  It have been very long since I last cooked curry.  First time using recipe with cinnamon and star anise in cooking curry.  I am using 3 chicken thigh legs so I only used half recipe to cook it.

Recipe adapted from https://travelling-foodies.com

Ingredients:

Ingredients

3 Chicken thigh legs, cut into large chunks

3 tbsp curry powder ( Babas brand curry powder)

2 tbsp chili powder ( Babas brand chili powder)

1/2 tsp salt

1 sprig of curry leaves (daon kari)

Mix all the ingredients thoroughly, rub each piece of chicken thoroughly with the powders and salt and marinate for 4 hours, or overnight in the fridge.

Rempah ingredients

50g shallots or large onions, peeled and sliced

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced

thumb-length knob of ginger (halia), sliced

1/2 tbsp curry powder

1/2 tbsp chili powder

Blend or pound the peeled shallots or onions, garlic and ginger to form a coarse paste. Set aside the additional curry and chili powder for later use.

Condiments and others

1 stick of cinnamon 

1 star anise 

1 stalk of lemongrass, cut into large chunks, sliced lengthwise and bruised slightly

1/8 cup cooking oil (yes you need this much oil!)

1 large brastagi granola potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks

250 ml of thick coconut milk

100 ml of water

1/2 tsp salt to taste

1/2 sprig of curry leaves

1/2 tbsp sugar, to taste (optional) - I added

1 MSG-free chicken bouillon cube (optional) - I added chicken powder

1 tsp ground pepper, to taste (optional)

Method

To a heated wok, add oil followed by blended onion-garlic-ginger paste. Stir-fry slowly under medium heat until fragrant.

Add lemongrass, chilli powder, curry powder, cinnamon stick and star anise and continue to stir fry until all the aroma of the spices and ingredients are very apparent (3-5 min)

Add marinated chicken chunks. Stir fry until all the chicken are well coated with the fried ingredients. Continue to stir fry under medium heat for another 10 min.

Add water as well as half the amount of coconut milk and potatoes. Bring the mixture to a boil before simmering with lid on for 20 min. The MSG-free chicken bouillon cube should be added now if using.

Taste and adjust the flavours with more salt. A bit of sugar may be added to balance the flavours while ground pepper can be added for an additional spicy edge.

Add remaining thick coconut milk and return to a boil before simmering to medium-low heat for the last 10-15 min or until the chicken and potatoes are soft and thoroughly cooked through. A sprig of curry leaves is added at this point to “refresh” the aroma of the dish.