Chicken Curry Memories

I don't think I know anyone that doesn't like Chicken Curry. It's such a flavoursome, comforting dish and once you have the basic spices at home, you'll be able to make it several times over without buying too many ingredients.

My childhood memories of chicken curry include family picnics at the beach. In Singapore, where I grew up, chicken curry was considered a picnic (!) food. My mom would make a huge pot of the stuff and we would drive to the beach with the family and have dinner on a big canvas sheet on the sand. When we made longer trips we would even bring along a make shift stove to re-heat the curry so that we would have something warm to eat after having a dip in the cool sea. I have many fond memories of shivering away in half-soaked beach towel towel, ready to dip a big chunk of french bread the thick gravy.

There are lots of different types of chicken curry and this one is some what a hybrid version of my mom's chicken curry and a North Indian version I created myself.

What I put in (Enough for 4):

• 1 whole chicken (around 1-1.2 kg) cut into parts
• 2 large white onions
  
• 4 cm of ginger root
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 large ripe tomatoes
  
• 1tsp chilli powder
• 1.5 tbsp garam massala
• 1 tbsp curry powder
  
• 4 cloves
• 2 seeds of cardamon
• 6 whole black peppercorns
  
• 1/2 tablespoon cumin seeds
• 4 dried chillis
• Half a star of anise
• 1 small stick of cinnamon
  
• 4 tbsp thick full cream yoghurt (greek-style yoghurt works well)
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 1/2 tsp salt or to taste
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (do not use olive oil!!)
• Coriander to garnish

How to make it:

• Pound the garlic and ginger and dice the onions finely.
• Cut the tomatoes in half and then into slices
• Place the chicken parts in a large bowl and add curry powder, chilli powder, garam massala and salt. Use your fingers or a spatula to ensure that the chicken is well coated in the spice mixture. Leave to rest.
  
• Heat the oil in a large wok or saucepan on high heat. When oil is hot, add the pounded garlic and ginger and then cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, cumin seeds, dried chillies, anise and cinnamon. Fry in the oil for about 10-30 seconds until fragrant, don't let the spices burn!
  
• Turn the heat down to medium and add the onions, letting them sweat until the onion is translucent. Try to make sure that the onion does not brown.
• Add the chicken and stir until browned then add in the tomatoes and cook till soft.
• Add the yoghurt and stir till all ingredients are well mixed.
• Turn the heat down to low and allow to simmer for about 30 mins, occasionally stirring.
• Your curry is ready to serve!
  

Curries tend to taste even better when left to sit for a day so make a big portion and have it the next day or the day after. I like to serve this up with steamed white rice and garnish with coriander. Or go old school and dip a slice of thick-crusted french loaf straight in the pot.

Lazy Sunday Fried Rice

I've been making fried rice since I was a teenager. It's probably one of my most favourite one-dish-meals as it can include generally almost any ingredient. It's also a great way to use up left-overs when you don't feel like stepping out to do grocery shopping. One of my favourite cooking activities is to put together something out of a bunch of random ingredients. Fried rice is just the embodiment of that.
What I put in (Enough for 2):

• 1 large shallot
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1tsp fresh ginger, ground
• Handful of frozen peas
• 2 eggs
• Dash of fish sauce (to taste)
• Dash of sesame oil
• Sunflower oil for frying
• Cold left over rice (about 3 cups)*
• Handful of frozen baby crayfish (prawns, left over meat cuts or tofu will do too)

*note: it's really important that the rice is cold or at least at room temperature. Freshly cooked/steamed rice will make your fried rice sticky


How to make it:

• Crack the eggs into a hot pan with some oil and stir it up until cooked. Dish the egg away into a plate or bowl and leave to rest.
• Add some more oil into the pan, dice the onions, ginger and garlic and add to pan, letting them sweat until the onion is translucent
• Add the crayfish and peas and stir until almost cooked
• Add the rice. At this point it might take awhile for the rice to separate. Be patient, just stir the rice around, add the fish sauce and sesame oil. It will help the rice to separate.
• When rice grains are separated, stir in the eggs. The fried rice is now ready to eat!

Serve up the fried rice in a bowl and eat it on the couch in front of your laptop or the tv. After all, that's why it's called a lazy sunday :)