Curried Chicken, Sambal & Rice

Chicken Curry

I made a pot of curried chicken yesterday and it was just what I needed even though I am down with the flu...:P No one can't stop me from having my hot fix! And to make it even hotter, i had sambal with it.

A true Penangite will always eat their rice with sambal belacan. Well, that's what I was brought up to assume because when my grandmother was still alive, she'd always eat her rice with sambal on every meal, regardless of whatever dishes she forked out to go with the rice. Oh and she usually has a plate of fresh veggies like lettuce leaves, cucumber and four sided bean around so she can eat it with her sambal belacan and rice.

I am a Penang girl; born in Penang and will always take Penang as home even though I lived in KL, Malaysia. I spent most of my girlhood in Penang, in my grandparents house, which i still dream of at night when I go to sleep. Now, even though I live in Canada, I still eat like a Penangite and I am proud that my kitchen reeks of sambal belacan and all the other pungent spices :P

Anyway, back to my curried chicken, i used yoghurt instead of coconut's milk. Healthier and i feel less guilty scorching my throat when the curry is healthier, mind you! Everybody seems to have a way of cooking their curried chicken. Mine? I will never add water to my curry; instead I add chopped up juicy tomatoes to it :)

Here's what I used in my chicken curry:


Half a chicken, cut in to 8 pieces

Marinate chicken with:-
150g of yoghurt
4 tablespoons of curry powder
1 teaspoon tumeric powder
1 tablespoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin, whole
1 teaspoon salt

Curry base, to be blended:-
3 large onions (green or red)
half a bulb of garlic
1x1 inch knob of ginger
1x1 inch knob of galangal/lam keong (optional)
Water, enough to get the stuff going
*you can make a large amount of this paste for keeps. This is the basic base for any curry.

Other dry ingredients:
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon coriander powder
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
2 teaspoon mustard seeds
5 pods of cardamom
5 pieces of cloves
1 star of anise or aniseed
1 cinnamon stick (3-4inches long)
5 tablespoons of oil
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoon sugar
Method:

1. Marinate your chicken with all those ingredient for about 30mins -1 hour.
2. Heat oil on medium high heat in a pot. Add your mustard seeds, cumin seeds, cardamom, cloves, star of anise and cinnamon stick in and saute till mustard seeds starts popping.
3. Add your paste, chili powder, coriander powder and stir-fry for about 5-10 minutes.
4. Add your chicken and its entire marinate in, mix to coat well.
5. Let it simmer and stir occasionally until chicken is cooked. It'll take about 1 hour and more. Frankly, I let my curry simmer longer so that it's tastier and the flavors blend.

Ahhhh.....

So once my curry is done, I spooned some rice on my plate, pluck some of my romaine lettuces, add a dollop of sambal on the side and my curry of the other. Ahhhh.....a feast!