Dish of Chicken Potato Curry
(click to enlarge)

Chicken & Potato Curry


Singapore, Peranakan
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4 #
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2-1/3 hrs
Yes		 From the Nonya cuisine of Singapore, a substantial and very flavorful curry with plenty of sauce for rice. It can be made ahead and reheats well.

2-1/4
1-1/2
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1
1
1
1
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1
2
8
6
2-1/4
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2
3
14
1-2/3
4
1
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ar
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T
T
t
T
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in

oz
cl
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T
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oz
c

t
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Chicken Parts (1)
Potatoes (2)
-- Rempah A
Coriander Seed
Cumin Seed
Turmeric
Curry Powder (3)
-- Rempah B
Ginger root
Lemon Grass stalk
Shallots (4)
Garlic
Chili red fresh (5)
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Oil
Cassia Bark (6)
Coconut Milk (7)
Stock (8)
Curry Leaf (9)
Salt
-- Garnish
Cilantro Leaves
Prep   -   (55 min)
  1. Cut CHICKEN into convenient size pieces If using whole, bone in chicken parts (legs, thighs) chop each part in half crosswise. A razor sharp Chinese cleaver knife driven by a soft faced mallet is perfect for this.
  2. Peel POTATOES, cut into about 1 inch cubes. Hold in cold water until needed.
  3. Rempah A:   Grind Coriander and Cumin in your spice grinder. Mix all Rempah A items.
  4. Slice GINGER thin, cut slices into matchsticks and chop small.
  5. Peel of tough outer leaves of LEMON GRASS and cut off hard root. Smash bottom 5 inches with your kitchen mallet, then slice that 5 inches very thin. Keep aside the lower 4 inches of the unsmashed tops.
  6. Chop SHALLOTS small.
  7. Crush GARLIC and chop small.
  8. Chop RED CHILIS medium.
  9. In a Mixie or Blender (or large stone Mortar), add Rempah B items in the order listed running them to a paste. Mix in Rempah A mix.
  10. Open without shaking the Coconut Milk. Spoon off the thick Coconut Cream from the top and hold the Cream separate from the Thin Milk.
  11. Chop CILANTRO LEAVES medium for Garnish
Run   -   (1-1/3 hr)
  1. In a wok or spacious sauté pan (3-12 qt minimum) heat OIL. Over moderate heat, stir in Rempah mix. Fry stirring constantly until very aromatic and getting dry.
  2. Stir in Chicken, Cassia Bark and Potatoes. Tumble until well coated with the Rempah.
  3. Stir in Thin Coconut Milk and Chicken Stock. It should just cover the Chicken and Potatoes. Stir well to make sure no Rempah is stuck to the pan. Add reserved Lemon Grass Tops and Curry Leaves (if used). Bring to a boil, then turn down heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes. Uncover, and simmer stirring occasionally until chicken is about tender, at least another 15 minutes (10 minutes for boneless chunks).
  4. Stir in Coconut Cream and Salt. Hold at a high simmer another 15 minutes, uncovered, until chicken is very tender. Adjust liquid as needed for the sauce consistency you want. Note that when you take it off the boil there will be less sauce than you thought, and it will be thicker than you thought.
  5. Serve garnished with Cilantro Leaves, and along with plenty of steamed Jasmine rice.
NOTES:

  1. Chicken:

      The weight given is for bone-in pieces (preferably thigh/leg meat) - the photo example uses only drumsticks with the thin end cut off to make stock. The pattern recipe calls for 6 legs (drumsticks & thighs) of free range chicken. Her photo suggests free range chickens are rather small in London. She separates the thighs and legs and cooks them whole and skin-on. Skin-on doesn't work well with our larger, fattier market chickens, so I cook skins and off cuts into a strong both (see Stock) to be added to the recipe. For buffet service, I'd use skinless boneless leg meat cut into largish chunks.

  2. Potatoes:

      White Rose or similar work well in recipes of this sort. Avoid Klondike Gold type potatoes - they turn to mush if cooked a little more than the minimum. The pattern recipe calls for Maris Piper, which are not available in North America, and I think not as suitable for stews as White Rose. For details see our Potatoes page.

  3. Curry Powder:

      Southeast Asian curry powders are lighter and fruitier than typical Indian curry powders. For an easy to make example see our recipe Singapore Curry Powder.

  4. Shallots:

      Shallots are the red onion of Southeast Asia. For the photo example I had to use a Red Onion, because another recipe had just used all 14 ounces of Shallots I had on hand. Fortunately, our shallots are much easier to use than tiny Asian Shallots. For details see our Shallots page.

  5. Chili, Red Fresh:

      The pattern recipe called for "4 fresh medium hot Dutch chillies". Around here, we use Red Fresnos which are much more available. I used 2 large ones, easily equivalent to 4 Holland Reds. For details see our Chilis - Thailand and Southeast Asia page.

  6. Cassia Bark:

    This is just the hard sticks that pass as "Cinnamon" in the USA. For details see our Cinnamon / Cassia page.

  7. Coconut Milk:

      This is a 14 or 15 ounce can of unsweetened coconut milk, preferably from Thailand - that from other countries often disappoints. I always use Aroy-D brand, which has a very high Coconut Cream content. Some other Thai brands may also work well.

  8. Stock of Broth:

      When I do a recipe of this sort, I make sure there is enough so I can make a broth. I use skins, fat (a lot of flavor in fat is water soluble), bones and off cuts. In this case I used the skins and the thin ends of the drumsticks. I strain out the solids and use my gravy separator to remove all the fat.

  9. Curry Leaf:

      a couple of Kaffir Lime leaves could also be used. For details see our Curry Leaf and Kaffir Lime pages. The pattern recipe indicates Curry Leaves as optional.
  10. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch tt=to taste ar=as required
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