Description
An easy but delicious home cooked chicken curry that is popular in Singapore and Malaysia. This beloved local dish received global attention (and backlash from irate Singaporeans) when New York Times Cooking posted a version of this recipe that was neither faithfully followed nor correctly researched. That post has since been removed and the recipe corrected, following the public outcry. If you are wondering what Singaporean Chicken Curry is, I hope this version will satisfy both your curiosity and your appetite!
Ingredients
Units
Scale
FOR THE CURRY
- 1/4 cup coconut oil (it’s better for you! avoid using canola or vegetable oil!)
- 3 tablespoons curry powder
- 1kg chicken drumsticks, brined in 1 tablespoon salt
- 3 stalks lemongrass, white part only, smashed
- 3 cups water, or more as needed
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1kg potatoes, skinned, quartered and parboiled (see notes)
- 400ml coconut cream, adjust according to personal preference
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce, or more to taste
- 1–2 cubes chicken stock
SPICE PASTE
- 650 grams small red onions or shallots (about 6), peeled & roughly quartered
- 12 cloves garlic
- 2 knobs ginger
- 1 tablespoon, bottled pre-minced galangal (see notes)
- 3–6 red chillies, sliced (deseed if preferred)
- 10–15 dried chillies, rehydrated (adjust according to preferred spice level)
- 5 candlenuts
WHOLE SPICES
- 5 cardamoms
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seeds
- handful of curry leaves (optional)
- 1 piece 4-inch cinnamon stick
- 1 teaspoon coriander seeds
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
- 3 star anise
- 10 cloves
Instructions
- Brine the chicken overnight in a glass container with 1 tablespoon salt and 2 cups of water. Cover with a lid to prevent spills.
- On the day of cooking, start by blending the ingredients to make the spice paste/rempah. Add a few tablespoons of water to create a smooth paste.
- Heat up the oil in a heavy cast iron pot. Fry the spices for about 1 minute.
- Add the lemongrass and curry powder and fry until fragrant, about 1-2 minutes
- Add the spice paste/rempah and fry until the paste darkens, about 10 minutes.
- Drain the chicken before adding them to the pot. Stir to cover the chicken in the spice paste and fry for another 10 minutes
- Once the paste has darkened, indicating that the onions and garlic are cooked, add 3 cups of water (or more as needed). Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes stirring periodically to ensure that the paste does not burn at the bottom.
- Next add the parboiled potatoes. Bring the heat down to medium or medium low. Cover and cook for another 10-20 minutes, stirring periodically.
- Once the chicken is fully cooked, add chicken stock cubes, fish sauce, coconut cream, salt and sugar to taste. Cook uncovered for another 10 minutes.
- At some point, you may start to see that the curry has split and there is a layer of oil at the surface of the curry (the Malays call this “pecah minyak”). This is a good sign! Don’t remove it unless you are particularly health conscious. I don’t use much oil in my recipe so you needn’t worry too much about removing any excess.
- Taste test and add more salt or fish sauce if needed.
- Serve over hot rice with fresh cucumbers on the side.
Notes
- It is highly recommended to use a good, cast iron pot for making curry or even soups and stews. It distributes heat more evenly, preventing things from getting burnt at the bottom. It also allows the water to evaporate at a more even pace, creating a more luscious curry. If using a regular pot, note that you may need to add more oil at the start to prevent the spices from burning and more/less water during the cooking process. Please monitor it all closely. Good cooking, especially when making curry, must come from the heart. Use all your senses to make the recipe come alive!
- For this recipe, a wide pot is better than a pot that is too deep. This is because you will need to stir often to prevent the contents at the bottom from burning. A wider pot also allows the heat to distribute more evenly.
- When doubling the recipe, be mindful of how big your pot is. I suggest you add more chicken and potatoes if feeding a larger group, but keep the rest of the ingredients as listed unless you have a pot that is double the size. The bigger the pot, the harder to manage the stirring, which is crucial! Nobody likes a burnt curry!
- Purists will insist on using fresh galangal (blue ginger) but as I don’t use this ingredient often, the bottled version comes to the rescue. If using the fresh version, please use 1 thumb-sized knob. Roughly slice it and blend it together with the other ingredients in the spice paste. As this recipe is a home cooked dish, you can safely omit this ingredient and still enjoy this curry without it.
- Parboil the potatoes separately while cooking the curry. Bring a pot of salted water to the boil and cook for 15 minutes. Once you have added the parboiled potatoes to the curry, be sure not to overcook them or they will become mushy. Add them when you have about 15-20 minutes left of cook time.
- In Singapore we use “local” potatoes but Russet/Idaho spuds also work
- To make this a VEGAN Curry, replace the chicken with seitan, a meat analogue of your choice or tofu. Use a vegan stock cube instead of a chicken based one and replace fish sauce with soy sauce.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Asian
- Cuisine: Singaporean