What is nyonya curry paste

To make spice paste, soak chillies in boiling water for 30 minutes or until softened, then drain. Meanwhile, wrap shrimp paste in foil and cook in a small, heavy-based frying pan over medium-low heat for 4 minutes each side or until fragrant (open foil to check). Place coriander, fennel and cumin seeds in a small, heavy-based frying pan over medium-low heat and toast, shaking pan occasionally, for 4 minutes or until fragrant. Transfer to a food processor and process to a coarse powder. Add soaked chillies, shrimp paste and remaining ingredients, and process to a smooth paste.

Using a large, sharp knife, cut chicken marylands in half between the joint, then trim excess skin and fat. Heat oil in a large wok or saucepan over medium heat. Add spice paste and whole spices, and cook, stirring, for 3 minutes or until fragrant. Add chicken and potatoes, and stir to coat. Add stock (it should just cover mixture; add extra stock or water if necessary), bring to a simmer, then cover with a lid and cook over medium-low heat for 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and potatoes are tender. Stir in coconut milk and sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes or until heated through.

Scatter with sliced chilli and coriander sprigs, and serve with steamed rice.

Note

• Candle nuts are used as thickeners. Candle nuts and Asian red eschalots are from Asian food shops.

Photography Steve Brown

As seen in Feast magazine, May 2014, Issue 31.

Heat oil (1 tbsp vegetable oil) in a flameproof slow cooker bowl over medium-high heat. Add chicken (8 small skinless chicken thigh cutlets). Cook for 3 minutes each side or until browned. Transfer to a plate.

Reduce heat to medium. Cook onion (1 brown onion, halved, cut into thin wedges), stirring, for 5 minutes or until softened. Add paste (185g jar Malaysian Nyonya curry paste). Cook for 1 minute or until fragrant. Add coconut milk (270ml can coconut milk), stock (1/2 cup Massel chicken style liquid stock), lemongrass (1 stalk lemongrass, trimmed, bruised), cinnamon (1 cinnamon stick), star anise (1 star anise) and lime leaves (2 kaffir lime leaves, torn). Stir to combine.

Transfer bowl to slow cooker. Add chicken. Top with potato (500g desiree potatoes, peeled, halved) and cauliflower (300g cauliflower, cut into florets) (do not stir). Cover with lid. Cook on low for 4 hours or until chicken is tender.

Stir in sugar (2 tsp brown sugar) and fish sauce (2 tsp fish sauce). Discard lemongrass, cinnamon and lime leaves. Serve with roti (4 roti, warmed), rice (2 cups steamed jasmine rice, to serve), coriander (Fresh coriander leaves, to serve) and chilli (Sliced long red chilli, to serve).

Nyonya Chicken Curry - Chicken curry is made with bone-in chicken and curry leaves are used to infuse the chicken curry with their intense fragrance.

Nyonya loves their chicken curry, or kari ayam in Malay.

When it comes to making chicken curry, I always choose the easy way out—I buy instant chicken curry paste, which is both convenient and quite tasty.

However, back home in Penang, my family would always make chicken curry from scratch.

Well, first of all, you just can’t beat the authentic great taste of a red-hot chicken curry (click the picture above to check out the chicken curry gallery); secondly, no instant curry mix would rival the fresh and exotic aroma of homemade spice paste of turmeric, fennel, cumin, coriander seeds, and other aromatics.

So, the answer is pretty clear. If you want the best chicken curry, be prepared to spend some time in your kitchen…

Chicken curry is made with bone-in chicken traditionally, and curry leaves are used to infuse the chicken curry with the intense fragrance of the curry leaves.

My family love eating chicken curry with nasi kunyit (turmeric sticky rice) but I will have to share that recipe in the future. For now, do check out this mouthwatering chicken curry recipe prepared by my sister-in-law in Penang.

How Many Calories per Serving?

This recipe is only 169 calories per serving.

What Dishes to Serve with This Recipe?

For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.

1 whole chicken, remove head, neck, feet and chopped into pieces
200 g (7 oz.) potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
200 ml thick coconut milk, to taste, optional
1 sprig curry leaves, use only the leaves
1 star arise
1 cloves
1 stick cinnamon
5 tbsp oil
1 ½ cup water

3 cloves garlic
18 shallots
12 dried chili, soaked and remove seeds
15 g (0.5 oz.) turmeric
15 g (0.5 oz.) coriander seeds
1 teaspoon fennel
1 teaspoon cumin
20 g (1 oz.) shrimp paste, toasted
1 stick lemongrass, white part only

1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar

Heat up your wok, pour in 5 tbsp oil, sauté cinnamon stick, star anise and cloves, fry over low heat, add in spice paste and stir-fry until fragrant.
Add chicken, potatoes, curry leaves and fry well. Add in water, cover the pot, braise over low heat until chicken and potatoes are cooked well.
Add the thick coconut milk, salt and sugar. Continue to simmer in low heat for 20-30 minutes or until the chicken becomes tender. Remove and serve with white rice, bread, nasi kunyit, or roti jala.

4 4 people
Amount Per Serving Calories 169Unsaturated Fat 0gSodium 597mgCarbohydrates 41gSugar 40g