Curry chicken

Ingredients

• 1 kg chicken pieces (thighs and drumsticks)
• 125 ml (½ cup) vegetable oil
• 3 lemongrass stalks, bruised
• 1 stalk torch ginger flower (bunga kantan, see note)
• 150 g red onion
• 150 g white onion
• 25 g garlic
• 10 g candle nuts
• 60 g curry powder
• ¼ tbsp chilli powder
• 25 g chilli giling (chilli paste)
• 1 tbsp chicken stock powder
• 125 ml (½ cup) chicken stock or water
• 1 small handful curry leaves
• 500 ml (2 cups) coconut cream
• 50 ml soy sauce
• 100 ml tomato sauce (ketchup)
• salt and ground white pepper, to taste
• steamed rice, to serve
• coriander sprigs, to serve

Instructions

1. Using a cleaver, cut the drumsticks in half and the thighs into 3 pieces. This will speed up the cooking process.
2. Heat half the oil in a wide, heavy-based frying pan over low heat. Add the chicken, lemongrass and torch ginger flower and cook for 20 minutes, stirring regularly.
3. Meanwhile, place the onion, garlic and candle nuts in a blender with a splash of water and blitz into a paste.
4. Heat the remaining oil in a heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion mixture and cook, stirring regularly until the onion smells cooked.
5. Place the curry powder, chilli powder, chilli giling and chicken stock powder in a bowl and stir to form a paste. Add the paste to the onion mixture along with the curry leaves and stir until fragrant. This forms your rempah.
6. When the chicken has been cooking for about 20 minutes, add the curry rempah and stir until fragrant. Add the coconut cream, soy sauce and tomato sauce and season to taste. Bring to a gentle simmer, then serve garnished with coriander, with steamed rice on the side.

Note

• Torch ginger flower is both ornamental and edible; the bud is commonly used in Malaysian cuisine and can be found frozen at Asian grocers. If you can't get a hold of these, replace it with Vietnamese mint and a thumb-sized knob of ginger.

Photography by Kitti Gould.

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