Gordon Ramsay's Malaysian Chicken Curry.....

Wondering how Gordon Ramsay could do justice to our Malaysian curry chicken, I decided to try out his recipe from his book 'Sunday Lunch'. And suprisingly it turn out quite delicious and my sons giving the thumps up for it. It is not too spicy and with the addition of fish sauce and soya sauce it brings out a sweet salty flavor to the curry.

Here is the recipe to share:

Curry Paste:( Ingredients A)

5 cloves garlic - chopped
4-5 red chillies, trimmed and deseeded
3 lemon grass, trimmed, outer leaves removed and thinly sliced
5 cm piece fresh ginger root, peeled and chopped ( I use lengkuas )
4 large shallots. peeled and chopped
1 tsp ground tumeric
2-3 tbsp oil

French beans.............

Curry:

1 kg skinless and boneless chicken thigh- cut into bite size pieces
2 tbsp oil
2 onions peeled and thinly sliced
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
4 kaffir lime leaves
1 cinnamon stick
3 star anise
400 ml coconut milk
100ml chicken stock ( I use water)
1 tsp palm sugar or soft brown sugar
2 tbsp light soya sauce
2 tbsp fish sauce
some green beans or potatoes.

Blend A in a blender to a smooth paste. Heat oil in pan or wok. Tip in the curry paste and stir over medium heat for a few minutes til fragrant. Add onions and cook stirring frequently for 5 mins til soften. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and stir to coat them with the spice paste. Add the lime leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise, stock, sugar, soy and fish sauces and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook gently for 30 to 40 mins til chicken is tender.

I add in the coconut milk last as I do not want the milk to curdle up. No salt is added as the soya and fish sauces gives it the saltiness. I use water instead of stock and put in a tsp of chicken stock granules for flavoring. For a healthier curry I sometimes replace the coconut milk with low fat milk or yorgurt.

A Not Too Spicy Fish Curry......

I love to share here a simple fish curry that you can cook in less than an hour. This not too spicy curry will be loved by even small children by adding their favorite vegetables making it a wholesome meal by itself for those busy mothers. As I have been on a diet of chicken soup most of the time I crave for this spicy dish to whet my appetite.

Ingredients:

400 g red snapper or mackerel (deboned)

1 tbsp oil

1 onion sliced

3 cloves garlic

2 slices ginger

1 to 2 tbsp fish curry powder (lessen if cooking for small children)

1 tsp ground tumeric

1 tsp mustard seed

2 sprigs of curry leaves

A combination of 2 -3 diced vegetables : Tomatoes, pumpkin,french beans,okra, eggplant , carrots, cucumber, or lady fingers.

1 cup UHT milk or fresh coconut milk

Fish curry cooking in pot................

Method:

Season fish with some salt and pepper, leave aside. Heat a pan with oil and fry the onions, garlic and ginger til fragrant. Add in the curry powder and tumeric which have been mix into a paste with some water. Next add in washed mustard seeds and fry for a minute til fragrant

Pour in half a cup of water and bring to boil. Add in fish and vegetables to simmer for 15 minutes til fish is cooked and the vegetables tendered. Finally add in milk and salt to taste. Bring to a boil. Remove immediately once it boils as longer boiling will curdle the milk. Serve with plain boiled rice.

Curry Chicken With A Difference..........

Last week, I cooked a pot of chicken curry using kaffir lime leaves or otherwise known as daun limau perut. These leaves, with the combination of other fresh ingredients like lemon grass, shallots, garlic, fresh chillis, galangal (lengkuas), tumeric, and the sourness of tamarind juice gives this curry an unmistakable taste and fragrance thats make it so special and wanting more of it after the first helping.........like to share it here....

Ingredients:

1 kg chicken -cut into big pieces

15 nos shallots

2 stalks lemon grass (serai)

3 cloves garlic

6 nos fresh chillis

6 nos dried chillis

3 cm fresh tumeric (kunyit)

Blend together all the ingredients above except the chicken.........

5cm knob of galangal -sliced and bruised.

200 ml thick coconut milk- squeeze from 1 coconut

300 ml diluted coconut milk- second straining.

4 tablespoon oil

1 tbsp tamarind mixed with 4 tbsp water - drained for juice.

6 to 8 leaves kaffir lime leaves

salt to taste

Kaffir Lime leaves...........................

Method:

Heat oil in pan.....add blended ingredients and stir-fry til fragrant and oil appears .......then add in chicken pieces to fry for about 5 minutes to blend with the spices and add a few tablespoon of coconut milk or water to prevent the mixture from burnt and til the chicken meat change colour....next add in the remaining thin coconut milk, tamarind juice, kaffir lime leaves, galangal and cook on low medium heat for about 20 mins on a simmer. When the meat is tender add in the thick coconut milk and salt to taste. Bring to a soft boil, mix well and then it is ready to be served with hot rice and bread.

My niece Iris,....having a good time with the curries and bread.......

For a healthier curry I substitute the coconut milk with low fat milk and fresh plain yoghurt.

Quick And Easy Peasy Curry Fish......

My easy peasy pot of hot and spicy curry fish..............

Once in a blue moon you will be attack by the 'lazy bug'........so what happens when all your energy were spent on other things and your stomach was groaning for something hot and spicy like a curry dish........and you cannot imagine yourself spending hours in the kitchen slicing, chopping, and blending for a pot of your favorite curry.

But I had found a quick and easy way to satisfy my craving for this spicy dish.......and thanks to these wonderful ready packed sauces you find easily on the supermarket shelves that will make your life worth living. So I never fail to grab some of these sauces when I did my grocery shopping. Here is a fish curry dish I cook today using this packet of fish curry sauce....my favorite brand which i find is the best among the others...tastewise.

I only need to cut up some ladysfinger, 2 nos. tomatoes and some curry leaves from my garden to be added in with the fish to the sauces.....and all it takes is putting everything into the pot including the fish... about 300 gms into a pot and boiled on low medium heat for 10 to 15 mins depending on the type of fish you use.

My favourite.......and time saving........packet of fish curry sauce.

A Pot of Dhal Curry...............

Dhal curry .....ready to be served...................

Dhal curry can be seen in most Indian restaurant .....it goes well with indian bread like roti canai....naan...and chapati. Dhal is a type of split pulses which is very nutritious and high in protein.....thus most indian vegetarian dishes uses dhal in their cooking. Here is how i cook my dhal curry..........

Ingredients:

350 gm dhal - washed and soaked overnight

6 cups water

3 tsp salt

3 brinjals - roll cut into smal pieces

2 potatoes - cubes

1 carrot - roll cut into small pieces

2 tomatoes -diced

2 tbsp oil

3 big onions - sliced

5 cloves garlic - sliced

1 tbsp chopped ginger

chicken bones - (optional)

Mixed into a paste:

2 tbsp fish curry powder

2 tsp tumeric powder

a little water

Method:

Lightly brown onions, garlic and ginger in hot oil til fragrant...add tumeric and curry paste mixture...stir on low heat.....put in dhal and fry for a minute.....add water and salt to simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes.....( i added some chopped chicken bones to flavour and sweeten the curry) put in brinjal, tomatoes,carrots and potatoes to simmer for another 20 minutes or til the dhals are soft....

Besides serving with bread...this dhal curry can be serve with rice too......