Chicken Curry

This is the kind of curry my mom made when I was growing up, which is more along the line of Chinese-Malaysian curries as compared to the Malay or Indian version. As with most of my mom’s recipes, the dish comes without any actual measurement of the ingredients – everything was just “agak-agak”, meaning “more or less”. That can get pretty frustrating somedays – there would be times when I would get the flavor too diluted and other times, too spicy. Then in the process of fixing this problem, I would end up with too much meat and not enough gravy or vice versa. Finally, I managed to get the taste just right, with the correct proportion of meat to gravy – delicious! Here goes:

2 heads garlic (about 2 – 2½ ounces EACH before trimming), peeled
1½-inch ginger (about 1½ ounces before trimming), peeled and cut into small chunks
1 large onion or several small onions (about 13 – 15 ounces total before trimming), peeled and cut into small chunks
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 packet Yeo’s Malaysian Curry Powder (1.76 ounces)
3 – 3½ pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (8 – 10 pieces)
2 (14-ounce) cans or 1 (32-ounce) package Swanson Chicken Broth
6 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 2½ pounds before peeling), peeled and cut into big chunks
1 (13.5-ounce) can coconut milk
3 teaspoons salt or to taste

  1. Place garlic and ginger in the work bowl of food processor; process until finely minced. Add onion chunks and continue to process until smooth, stopping as necessary to scrape down sides of bowl.
  2. Heat oil in large, heavy-bottomed Dutch oven over medium heat. Add processed mixture, cook, stirring frequently until fragrant, about 5 to 7 minutes. Then, add the curry powder and continue to cook for another minute or two.
  3. Increase heat to medium-high, add the chicken, and cook, stirring to coat with the curry paste mixture, about 3 to 5 minutes.
  4. Add chicken broth, stir to mix, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally to prevent the curry from sticking to the bottom of the pot.
  5. About 15 to 20 minutes later (if using frozen chicken, I would wait another 15 minutes), add potatoes, stir to mix, and continue to cook until chicken and potatoes are tender.
  6. Add coconut milk and salt to taste, and continue to cook for another 5 minutes. Serve hot/warm with Nasi Lemak, or just plain steamed rice or toasted bread (dip the bread in the curry to soak up the delicious gravy).
Ingredients
you’ll need
Place ginger and garlic in the food processor and process until finely minced
Add onions
Process until the mixture is smooth
Fry in oil until cooked and fragrant, add curry powder
Continue to cook for a couple more minutes (if you ended up doubling the recipe like I did, you can remove half of the curry paste mixture at this point, cool, wrap it in plastic wrap and store in a Ziploc freezer bag and freeze it for future use)
Add chicken; if you use frozen chicken pieces which we do a lot of times, don’t bother defrosting the chicken – just add the chicken broth first to the curry paste mixture and then add the frozen chicken and continue
Add chicken broth
Add the potatoes (make sure the potatoes are in big chunks so that they won’t disintegrate into nothingness as the chicken cooks)
Cook until chicken is tender, add coconut milk and salt to taste
Ready to serve
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

9 Replies to “Chicken Curry”

  1. your curry chic look like my mom cook one hor! look so delicious!! I can eat 2 bowl white rice with it for a week! hahaha!! btw,I used to use Yeo's brand curry powder years ago but now I like Baba's or Burung Nuri brand..Those brand curry powder is really good and tasty!! I dunno about your area but here in NYC,we can get Baba's and BN in any Asian market..I understand hawker stall in Msia who sell curry mee also use Baba's..

  2. Beachlover,Thanks for the compliment and the tip. :) I've never noticed the brands you mentioned in my local Asian store but then, I wasn't looking for them either…now, I'll keep an eye out. :)Btw, I was in NYC just last week to renew my passport. I wanted to go to Chinatown to get bak kwa :) but didn't make it there because my son couldn't handle the heat anymore. Maybe next time. :)

  3. Nana,Are you drooling yet? :) Go make it. Just looking at the pics make me want to go and make another batch. :)

  4. I love chicken curry too, your look so delicious!

  5. Thanks Sonia! :)

  6. if you have small red onions, it would enhance the curry. pound the garlic, small onions & ginger if you have a mortar & pestle. coat the chicken pieces in curry powder (as marinade) before frying them.if you can find the brand "Mak Nonya" chicken curry, fish curry & even the ikan asam pedas is quick & delicious.http://www.shopmalaysia.com/en/c/Curry_Paste

  7. […] on AsianSupermarket365.com. And if you prefer to make your curry from scratch, here’s a chicken curry recipe I grew up with. :) The pre-packaged mix definitely saves a lot of prep time, and makes a delicious […]

  8. […] on AsianSupermarket365.com. And if you prefer to make your curry from scratch, here’s a chicken curry recipe I grew up with. :) The pre-packaged mix definitely saves a lot of prep time, and makes a delicious […]

Leave a Reply to ChrisCancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.