From the Malay kitchen: Kari Ayam (chicken curry)

 What you need:

1 medium onion (chopped chunkily)

2-3 cloves of garlic (chopped)

1cm chunk of ginger (chopped)

4-6 chicken thighs with skin

1 big potato (peeled, cut into 4-6)

Coconut milk (packet is best*)

Malay curry powder**

A little oil

Salt & pepper

A big casserole or saucepan with lid.

What to do:

Make up the coconut milk (see below)

In your saucepan, sweat the onion, ginger and garlic in a little oil, with 1tsp of curry powder, s&p

Add the coconut milk - this is your base

Add curry powder – I would recommend you do this teaspoon by teaspoon to taste. It’s quite spicy!

When contents start to bubble, add the chicken and potato. Stir

Cover, simmer for around 40 mins.

Serve with cooked white rice.

* Coconut milk

Generally, the packet mix has more flavour than tinned coconut milk. I tend to buy ‘Coconut King’: add one 200g packet to around a pint (0.5 litre) of water, and mix. You can add a bit more water to your pan if you need to cover the chicken.

** Malay curry powder

I use the Adabi or Baba's brands for meat (it will say something like ‘serbuk kari daging’ on the packet if not in English! ‘Daging’ means meat.)

 

I normally buy the coconut and curry powder from the New Loon Moon supermarket in London’s Chinatown (they have a Malay section in the back). I am sure they are available in other Asian food shops and online too.

 Variations

1. Throwing in a handful of green beans at around the 35min cooking mark adds crunch.

2. I think there’s a vegetarian version of the curry powder. And of course you can make the above without meat, or add another ingredient instead. I once used aubergine and it was good! (Add the veggies much later so they don’t get overcooked, or you can par-boil the potatoes first.)