I will forever and a day miss my third home, Malaysia Truly Asia. For everything it taught me including how to run across the road weaving through a million scooters coming from all directions it’s appreciating the simplicity yet complexity of Malay cuisine that I cherish the most. I hope I have done this dish justice in replicating from Australia.
Kitchen notes…
Full disclosure… while this is 98% authentic I should say that it’s my personal preference to steer clear of Belachan (shrimp paste), I also add lemongrass so this is up to you and I hate chicken on the bone for curries so I opt for thigh. Don’t judge, just follow.
If you’re really not into spice just use 1-2 dried chillies. Dry as apposed to fresh chilli is vital to the authentic Nyonya smokey and deep flavour of this dish that fresh chillies simply wont provide so rather than omitting, just use less.
I’ve also got a Malaysian Mamak Chicken Curry on the blog. While they are similar the main difference is Nyonya is a coconut based curry and Mamak is a water based. In my opinion also, Nyonya is the old school Malay curry where as the Mamak style is a more modern fruition of the Malay/Chinese/Indian influences in Malaysia (soy sauce, curry powder, ginger, cardamom).
Malaysian Nyonya Chicken Curry
Serves 4
Ingredients
Paste…
- 5-10 dried chillies
- 5 large shallots or 2 small onions, quartered
- 1 stalk of lemongrass, chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic, halved
- 1tsp each ground coriander, cumin, fennel & turmeric
- 1/2 cup vegetable oil
Curry…
- 500g/4 chicken thighs, chopped
- 6 baby potatoes, peeled and quartered
- 4 sprigs curry leaves (around 40 leaves)
- 1 cinnamon quill
- 2 star anise
- 1 tbs salt
- 1tbs sugar
- 2 pandan leaves, knotted
- 800ml/2 x cans coconut cream
Method
Pop the kettle on the boil and pop the dried chillies in a bowl then cover with the boiling water. Leave aside to soak while you roughly chop your veg. Once they have rehydrated cut in half and remove the seeds.
Grab your blender and add all the paste ingredients (along with the now soaked chillies). Puree to a smooth paste. If it’s taking ages, add a touch more oil.
Grab a big pot or wok add over the lowest heat you have spatular out all your paste (remember there’s oil in the paste so no need to add more). Slowly cook out your paste for 20 minutes stirring regularly. Don’t rush this part or underestimate the importance of cooking the paste. Remembering that these are still raw ingredients it’s this slow cook that builds the base flavour for this curry.
Add all your curry ingredients to the pot then stir through really well then leave over a low heat for 30-40 minutes. Check that your potatoes are soft and chicken tender then remove the pandan, curry leaves, star anise and cinnamon quill and serve up with rice, roti and a raging appetite.
