recipe is: Corey's Curry Chicken

Ingredients


1.2 kg chicken, cut into bite size

250 ml thick coconut cream

500 ml chicken stock/water

5 medium potatoes, skinned and cut into big chunks

3 stems curry leaves, use only the leaves and discard the stalk

3 tablespoon cooking oil

2 tsp light soya sauce (optional)

1 tbsp tumeric powder

1 tsp coriander powder (ketumbar)

1 tsp cumin powder (jintan putih)

1 tsp fennel powder (jintan manis)

1 tsp garam masala powder

salt and sugar to taste

Mix A

18 dried chillies, soak in hot water for 10 mins and drained

1 head garlic, skinned

15 red shallots, skinned

2 inches of galangal (lengkuas)

5 stalks lemongrass (serai), use only the lower white part

3 candlenuts

1 thumb size piece of belacan (shrimp paste or shrimp cake that resembles chocolate)

Method

blend Mix A as fine as possible and set aside.

in a wok or large pan, heat up the oil and turn the flame to as small as possible. add blended Mix A, cumin powder, coriander powder, fennel powder, garam masala powder and tumeric powder and fry for about 10 mins, taking care to mix around and not let it burn

turn the flame to medium and add in the chicken, potatoes and curry leaves. stir to mix thoroughly

add the coconut cream, chicken stock and light soya sauce. add salt and sugar to taste. bring it to a boil and turn down the flame to set it simmer for about 1 hour or til cooked. add some hot water if the gravy gets too thick

serve hot with white rice or spiced rice.

leftover curry chicken goes well with bread the next day.

Notes:

~ keep left over curry in the fridge as it contains coconut cream and can go bad. just heat it up before serving.

~ use starchy yellow potatoes for best results

~ cut the blended ingredients to similar sized chunks to get more even and faster blending. alternatively, it's an old believe that these ingredients pounded to a paste with a mortar and pestle gives an even more aromatic result. be prepared for a long workout if you opt for that.

~ use cholestrol-free packed coconut cream/coconut milk for a more convenient and healthier alternative. the packets resembles small uht milk containers

- the garam masala powder was a tip from a friend, kentucky wildcats' fan from my blogsphere

recipe is: spiced rice

Ingredients

6 cups cooked rice, basmati rice works best. if not, normal rice will do

3 tbsp margarine

2 cinnamon stick

10 cloves

4 star anise

pinch of salt


Method

heat up the oven to 160℃

put the rice into an oven safe bowl and break up any lumps

in a small sauce pan, melt the margarine over a low flame and put in the cinnamon, cloves, star anise and salt. once the aroma emerges, take it off the heat. should take about 2 mins

mix the spiced margarine in the rice thoroughly. cover with foil and bake for 20 mins

recipe is: lo shi fun with minced beef

Ingredients

500 gms lo shi fun (short stubby pointy ended noodles made out of rice flour)

350 gms minced beef

300 gms beansprouts

1 whole head of garlic, finely chopped

two 3cm wide pieces tai tau choy (preserved salted radish), finely diced

1 tablespoon finely chopped choy poh (preserved radish)

4 tbsp oil

Sauce

mix together in a bowl:

1 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tsp chicken stock granules
2 dashes sesame oil
3 tsp light soya sauce
3 tbsp dark soya sauce
2 tbsp chinese cooking wine
4 tbsp water

Method

put 2 tbsp oil into a heated wok, and add the garlic, tai tau choy and choy po. stir fry for 2 mins and add the minced beef. stir fry briskly and use the spatula to break up the beef into tiny clumps. add the other 2 tbsp of oil. stir fry til beef is just cooked. add the lo shi fun and stir fry to mix. add the sauce and stir fry quickly to mix. add the beansprout and stir fry for another 2 mins to mix. dish up.

serve with thinly sliced red chillies or tiny birds eye chillies.