Gulai Ayam (Malay Chicken Curry)
Norman Musa writes...
Malaysians cook curries on a daily basis and the type they eat varies. A daily meal will not be complete without having curry and rice. Most will have it for lunch too. My gulai version is slightly different than many Malaysian households’. I make my sauce thicker than the usual style because, for me, there is more flavour to it. You can use prawns, beef or just vegetables for this recipe. For vegetarian curry, I recommend sweet potato, aubergines and butternut squash. The Malaysian curry powder I recommend is available in many Chinese or Thai grocery stores.
Ingredients
400g chicken breast, thinly sliced
3 tablespoons Malaysian meat curry powder (Malaysian Adabi brand preferred)
8 tablespoons cooking oil
2 tablespoons blended onion
1 ½ tablespoons blended garlic
1 ½ tablespoons blended ginger
2 star anise
1 cinnamon bark, about 5cm long
1 pandan leaf (tied in a knot)
1 tablespoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
100ml water
3 tablespoons tamarind juice
100ml coconut milk
4 baby potatoes, cut into 4 pieces each
1 carrot
Wash the chicken breast and cut into thin slices. I prefer to cut the chicken into thin slices so the meat can absorb the flavour and taste better. Set aside.
Peel the potatoes and carrots. Cut the potatoes into four pieces each and slice the carrots about 1cm thick.
Heat up the oil in a saucepan and add the blended onion, garlic and ginger. Cook until the aromas rise. Next add in the star anise, cinnamon bark and pandan leaf. Cook until the ingredients start turning brown, then add in the curry powder, water, salt, sugar and tamarind juice. Cook until the oil separates from the rest of the ingredients.
Add in the chicken pieces, potato and carrot. Simmer on a medium heat until the chicken is nicely cooked through. This will take about 15 minutes. Add in the coconut milk and bring to boil. Turn off the heat and you are ready to serve.
Recipe taken from Malaysian Food, A collection of my favourite dishes and the inspiration behind them by Norman Musa
