INDONESIAN CHICKEN CURRY

Chicken is a universal food, and everybody has his or her own favourite way of preparing it. Curried chicken dishes are popular whether from India or the Caribbean, but Indonesian chicken curry is not so well known outside of Southeast Asia.

Indonesia, with its fifteen thousand islands, covers a large portion of Southeast Asia, and in the early twenty-first century its population (209.4 million) ranked fourth among the world's most populous nations.  Indonesia, with so many regional traditions and ethnic diversity, has one of the richest cuisines.

A while back I saw an Indonesian chicken curry recipe in a book entitled “The Encyclopedia Of Asian Cooking” edited by Jeni Wright, Octopus Books Limited, London, UK. 1980. I copied the recipe down but didn’t have all the ingredients such as candlenuts or Salam leaf so I made substitutions.  It was different from other curries and quite delicious.  My BW and I enjoyed it and finished the rest of it the next day, at which point it actually seemed to taste even better. The next time I made it I changed a couple of things, and I believe you will find this an exciting dining treat for a nice change of taste, perhaps during a weeknight. Once assembled it simmers awhile; you could set your timer and do something else while it cooks. Make a pot of rice to go with it.

One would think this curry would be better known, because everyone can agree that it is truly wonderful. I think you will as well.

Indonesian Chicken Curry (Kelia Ayam)             serves 4-6

Ingredients:

3 onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

4 macadamia nuts, chopped

20 fluid ounces (600ml) coconut milk

1 tablespoon minced gingerroot     

1 teaspoon ground red pepper (chili powder)

1 teaspoon turmeric

2 bay leaves

Salt to taste

6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into small pieces

1 tablespoon cornstarch to coat the chicken

Method:

Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and sprinkle on the cornstarch and massage it in all over.

Put half of each of the first three ingredients in an electric blender; add just enough of the coconut milk (3 tablespoons or so) and blend until smooth. Repeat with the other half.

Heat a deep skillet or dutch oven and pour the blended ingredients into it.

Add the rest of the ingredients and stir thoroughly while bringing to the boil and then simmer gently for about forty minutes. The sauce should be thickened now. If not, remove the chicken and reduce further. Taste for salt.

This is good served with steamed rice. Enjoy.  

VELVET CHICKEN

I’m always very keen on chicken dishes at Chinese restaurants, because the chicken is always especially tender and moist, thanks to the Chinese technique of “velveting”, which makes the chicken so sublime.

 

You can make a batch of velvet chicken beforehand, and then when you finally prepare the stir-fry, the chicken is ready to go. Velveting prevents the chicken from overcooking and gives it a smooth satiny texture. You cook everything else and then add the velveted chicken near the end.  The heat of the food heats the velveted chicken gently. It is a wonderful preparation for boneless, skinless chicken.

 

I remember making a batch of Jambalaya with smoked sausage, ham and velveted chicken for some friends and the comments were specifically about how splendid the chicken was and nothing else, telling me that velveting is indeed an important cookery tool.

 

Use the velveting technique and you will want chicken more often. Velveting is not difficult, try it once and you’ll use it often.

Velvet chicken

1.     Have a large bowl of ice-water ready.

2. Bring 2 quarts of water to boiling in a large saucepan.

3. 2 lbs of raw chicken skinned and boned or use 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts. Cut into dice.
4. Pinch of salt
5. 1-teaspoon soy sauce *
6. 1 egg white
7. 2 tablespoons cornstarch

 

Mix all the ingredients except ice water and boiling water together in a bowl and stir to coat the poultry.  Put the chicken mixture in the boiling water, it will be stuck together at first; stir gently to separate.

 

When the water returns to boiling, remove from heat and let sit for only one minute.

Drain the meat and put into the ice water to cool, and then remove chicken from the ice water and drain it dry. Refrigerate if not using right away.

 

When making a chicken stir-fry, add the chicken last, the heat will warm up the cooked chicken.  Never again will you be subjected to the misery of hard, dry chicken from frying raw boneless, skinless chicken.  Using the velvet chicken technique improves any dish it is used in.

* Omit the soy sauce when using chicken in non-Asian recipes.