Kari Ayam (Malaysian Chicken Curry)

I, a little Newfie girl with a love of cooking who would someday love to attend cooking school, have the honour and the privledge of learning firsthand how to prepare authentic Malaysian and Chinese dishes from a very very talented cook, a master in my opinion, and I don't even have to leave my home!

My mother-in-law is an amazing cook. She has been preparing Malaysian, and Chinese dishes all her life; her methods and skills handed down through generations by her mother, grandmothers, and so on.

She has volunteered to come to our home and teach me her skills. There is a language barrier, but hopefully with my enthusiasm and eagerness to learn and my husband as a translator, I am hopeful that I can learn and with practice master her dishes.


Today's lesson: Curry Chicken properly denoted as Kari Ayam.

My mother-in-law makes the BEST curry chicken I have ever had, really, and I've seen it in action, served at parties, with experienced palates making comments such as "Who brought this curry? It's better than my mom's curry!"; "This is amazing"!!; and "This is the best curry I have ever had in my life"! All the ingredients we are using today are readily available store bought products (we're not grinding our own spices from scratch or anything, as would be the case if we were in Malaysia in my husband's grandmother's kitchen), and thus this recipe can be easily reproduced.

Our first task was to gather the ingredients. My husband called his mother up on the phone to coordinate our lesson, and receive specific instruction on what ingredients are necessary. We then visitied an Indian Supermarket and a Chinese Supermarket to gather the list of ingredients:

1 Whole Chicken (approx. 2 lbs)
8-10 tbsp. Curry Powder to cover chicken (Baba's Meat Curry Powder)
Salt to taste (approx. 4 tsp)
1/3 cup Canola Oil
4-5 Garlic Cloves
1/2 medium Onion (or 2-3 shallots)
2 stalks Lemongrass
1 tbsp Red Curry Paste (Maesri brand)
15-20 Fresh Curry Leaves
2-3 Lemon Tree Leaves
1/3 cup Coconut Powder (Mr. Goudas)
1/2 cup coconut milk
Potatoes
1/4 cup dried fried onions
2 tsp. Knorr Chicken Broth Mix
1 cup Milk
Hot Water (amount as needed)








Curry Leaves (Indian Store)


Lemon Tree Leaves (Indian Store)


1) Cut 1 whole chicken into serving size pieces

2) In a mixing bowl, coat all chicken pieces thoroughly with Baba's dry curry powder (requires 8-10 tbsp. curry powder), and approx. 3 tsp salt. Let stand for 15-20 minutes while remainder of ingredients are prepped






3) Finely chop 1/2 medium onion and 5 cloves of garlic *optional - with a mortar and pestle, grind onion and garlic into a paste (we did not do this today)



4) Peel outer layers off lemon grass. Cut lemon grass into 3" long pieces. Cut thicker pieces of lemon grass lengthwise in 1/2. Pound lemon grass pieces with blunt handle of cleaver to bring out juices and flavor.




5) Tear 15-20 curry leaves off stalks, and 2-3 lemon tree leaves

6) Peel 4 potatoes, and cut into large pieces, place in a bowl with a small amount of water and partially steam in microwave

7) Heat a large pot over high heat for approx. 2 minutes

8) Add 1/2 cup canola oil, let heat for approx. 3 minutes

9) When oil is hot, add garlic, onion, and lemon grass and saute until onions are tender and golden brown (5 minutes), stir constantly to prevent sticking!

10) Add 1 tbsp. Maesri brand red curry paste, curry leaves, and lemon tree leaves, and continue to saute for approximately another 5 minutes , stirring constantly and adding small amounts of hot H2O periodically to prevent sticking




11) Add chicken to pot, scrape all curry from bowl into pot, saute for approx. 5 minutes stirring constantly, and continuing to add small amounts of hot H2O to prevent sticking. *Take care not to damage or tear skin off chicken pieces during stirring

12) Add 3 tbsp. dried fried onions

13) Add partially cooked potatoes and push to bottom of pot to enable cooking to continue. Cover pot and simmer over medium heat for approx. 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally and adding hot water as before to prevent sticking and burning of ingredients. Add 2 tsp. dry chicken stock. Taste test and add more salt if desired. Fork test potatoes to see if cooked.




14) While waiting for potatoes to cook, prepare coconut milk (mix 1/3 cup coconut powder, 1/2 cup warm coconut milk and 1/2 cup hot water)

15) Heat 1 cup of milk in microwave

16)Once potatoes are cooked, add coconut milk mixture and hot milk, stir to blend ingredients. Reduce heat to low, remove cover, and do not let the ingredients simmer after milks are added as this will cause curdling. Let stand for approx. 10-15 minutes.

17) Transfer to a corningware pot for serving



18) Serve over steamed basmati rice *optional, infuse the rice with coconut milk immediately after cooking for added coconut flavor



Tastebuds: Brace yourselves!!!!! This dish is SO packed with flavour, it is beyond good! I can truly say this is one of the best things I have ever eaten!

There is a fair amount of heat to this dish, it's not crazy hot, but it has some kick, so I like to follow it with a juicy variety of fruit that has been chilled. Choices include pineapple, watermelon, papaya, cantaloupe, honey dew melon, or my favorite - durian, not because it is juicy but because it is so rich and creamy and helps reduce the burn.
(the national fruit of Malaysia - so 'stinky' that airlines, and other mass transport have made it illegal to bring this fruit on board )!! Yummmmmm!!!

A very special thank you is being sent out to my mother-in-law, for volunteering her time and expertise and for being the 2nd woman in my life to take on the role of teaching me how to cook wonderful food!!

xoxoxo