Nonya Chicken Curry Recipe

Noodlies, Sydney food blog tried it and it comes out looking like this…

With thanks to the Singapore Tourist Bureau (STB), this week, noodlies Sydney food blog experienced School of Shiok! It was an amazingly fun cooking experience hosted by Ed Halmagyi, who developed the recipes and the sassy Sandra Leong (below with me) and her lovely team from STB. The chicken curry dish about was the mouth-watering result.

Nonya Chicken Curry

Ingredients – serves 4
1 tbsp Belachan (shrimp paste)
2 dried red chillies, soaked in water and drained
4 long red chillies, finely sliced
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
4 eschalots, chopped
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
2 tsp ground turmeric
1/4 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 1/2kg skinless chicken thigh fillets
4 lemongrass sticks, finely sliced (white part only)
4 kaffir lime leaves, finely sliced
200ml coconut cream
400ml coconut milk
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup light palm sugar
Juice of 2 limes
1 tbsp fish sauce
Rice: steamed to serve

Method
Preheat oven to 180c. Place Belachan on a small oven dish and bake for 10 minutes, until aromatic. Combine in a blender with dried chillies, half of the long red chillies, garlic, eschalots, macadamias, turmeric and cardamom, then pulse until smooth. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large wok over moderate heat, then fry chicken thighs until well-browned, then set aside. Add curry paste and fry for 4 minutes, stirring often until it begins to stick to the bottom of the wok. Add lemongrass, half lime leaves and coconut cream.

Bring to boil and cook for 5 minutes, until cream separates. Mix in coconut milk, stock, palm sugar, lime juice, fish sauce and remaining lime leaves and chillies, simmer briefly, then return chicken and simmer until tender – about 20 minutes. Serve with rice.

Enjoy!