Peranakan chicken curry

Peranakans are descendants of early Chinese settlers in Penang, Malaysia. The Malaysian word is nonya which refers to the respect and affection held for women within their society. The food is a blend of Chinese and Malay spicing and flavouring. Typically the food is spicy, tangy, herbal and aromatic. This simple curry is no exception.

 

Ingredients

2.5 tablespoons curry powder (see below)

1.25kg chicken drumsticks and thighs (skinned)

3 sticks lemon grass

2 tablespoons groundnut oil

good piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced 

300 g waxy potatoes, peeled and quartered

200 g shallots, finely diced

6 kaffir lime leaves, very finely chopped

12 fresh curry leaves, very finely chopped

2 green chillies, very finely chopped

300 ml coconut milk

2 tablespoons tamarind paste (if not available mix 1.5 tablespoons lemon juice with half a teaspoon sugar)

2 medium tomatoes, quartered

sprinkle of sugar (less than a teaspoon)

 

It's perfectly acceptable to use a good quality shop-bought curry powder, otherwise see directions below!

Start by rubbing 1.5 tablespoons of the curry powder over the chicken pieces and set aside. Now prepare the lemon grass - in order to get maximum flavour from the lemon grass, slice off the tough end and then slice the lemon grass lengthwise. Tie together with twine and set aside.

Use a good heavy bottomed pan or wok with a lid and set over a medium high heat. Pour in the oil and when hot add the ginger slices, stir fry until the ginger just starts to brown giving off a wonderful fragrance and adding flavour to the oil. Discard the ginger at this point and add the quartered potatoes and allow them to brown on all sides  before setting aside with a slotted spoon- don't worry they will continue cooking later in the process. Now add the finely chopped shallots and stir fry for 3 minutes until they start to turn golden. Immediately add the remaining curry powder, lemon grass, lime leaves, curry leaves and green chillies. Continue cooking for 3 to 4 minutes, the smells will be tantalising! Now quickly add the chicken, stir to mix well and then return the potatoes to the pan or wok with 450ml of water. Season with a little salt and bring to the boil before reducing the heat down to below medium. Cover and allow to cook gently for approximately 20 minutes. 

After 20 minutes add the coconut milk, chopped tomatoes, a sprinkle of sugar and the tamarind paste (or substitute if using)  and allow to cook for a further 10 minutes uncovered. Whilst cooking continue to spoon the sauce over the chicken. Finally remove the lemon grass bundle.

The wonderful curry is now ready to be served with plain white rice, or can be set aside and re-heated later depending upon your timings. You will really enjoy this tremendously rich and flavoursome curry!

For those that prefer their own curry powder here's a basic curry powder recipe that works very well. The heat can be adjusted by adding pure chilli powder, however the basic recipe below does not include it:

Ingredients:

5 whole cloves

3 dried red chillies, crumbled

1 teaspoon whole fenugreek seeds

1 teaspoon ground tumeric

1.5 teaspoons whole mustard seeds

2 teaspoons whole peppercorns

1 tablespoon whole cummin seeds

2 tablespoons whole corriander seeds

Take a small frying pan and dry roast the coriander, cummin, peppercorns, mustard seeds, cloves and dried chillies, over a medium heat. Stir gently until the aromas start to be emitted and as the spices begin to darken add the fenugreek and tumeric, stirring for no more than 15 seconds.

Empty the spices onto a clean dry plate, spread and allow to cool. Once cool, grind in a spice grinder as finely as possible. Store in a clean jar away from heat and daylight. Delicious!

 

Comments

[Su-Lin]

This is very similar to what my mother used to cook for us (we being Peranakan), the only difference being that we never used tomatoes. But dang, that does look like a good curry!

And yes, we do use curry powder - and I always feel weird everytime someone bangs on about how curry powder doesn't exist!

[paul]

Thanks Su-Lin, I have a regular supply of curry powder sent over from a friend in KL - her mother grinds it at home, delicious!

[Jamie]

The receipe reminded me of my mum's receipe. She has retired from cooking and has yet to pen down the recipes. So I tried it, Yums! Although I had to used more oil . But me thinks the Assam is the magic touch.

Thanks,
Jamie

[Shu Han]

I am surprised and happy to see a peranakan curry being featured on a british blog! I grew up in singapore, eating and taking for granted these delicious spices and aromas, and now I study in London, where the only way I can get hold of some good old nonya food is by cooking it myself(: That looks like a curry my mum will approve!

[fifi]

can you put this into a slow cooker once you have preped it all on the stove thanks fifi

[Alec Ewe]

This curry is very similar to my family's Chicken Curry except in name. In Penang we call it Nyonya Chicken Curry. Ummm...

[PukkaPaki]

what a lovely recipe - just had some in Singapore and learnt to cook it, am loving ur recipe though and big fan of the blog x

[Najam stanova]

= Nyonya Chicken Curry!

[May]

This is a lovely dish. We sometimes have it for breakfast and dunk bread in the sauce. My recipe is a slightly different, not using tomatoes and using fresh herbs and spices. Fresh curry powder is not always available in London unfortunately. My recipe for Curry Kapitan is here :
http://www.malaysianbymay.com/curry-kapitan-nonya-chicken-curry/

[paul]

Thanks May for your comment - will have a go at your excellent curry kapitan!

[Schenan]

We returned from Melaka recently and had some of this delicious curry from a place called NAncy's Kitchen, and ever since I've been trying to replicate her curry. We even bought some of her curry powder back to Singapore with us.
Found your blog through an image search of peranakan curry (that image is fantastic!) and tried out your recipe leaving out a few things that I didn't have in my kitchen but it still turned out brilliant! Thank you!