Malaysian Chicken Curry (Gulai Ayam)

It's been a while....

I am no longer able to cook boring meals without the great world wide web knowing, due to my absence in posting an exciting meal.

But, fortunately for you, I stepped beyond the mundane easy meals and attempted something new last night. Well, not exactly new. But worthy of a post at least.

So here we go.....today I bring you: CURRY (from scratch!).

Before you decide it sounds much too hard, I would like to say, it really isn't that hard. Does take about 45 minutes to get everything going but once you do, it just cooks itself.

Recipe:

-Cut chicken pieces (2 large) into bite sized pieces.

-Blend 5 Tbsp curry powder into 1 cup water

-Pound 6 shallots, 4 cloves of garlic, and 3 cm piece of ginger (or if you don't have a mortar and pestle, like myself, you can chop/grate them; also, I used ground ginger because I didn't have a piece of it)

-Heat 1/2 cup oil and fry the pounded ingredients until fragrant. (optional: add in chopped chili pepper if you want it to be spicy). Add in the curry powder and fry further until fragrant.

-Add the chicken with a little bit of water.

-Add star anise, cloves and cinnamon stick.

-Stir slowly and add the coconut milk (2 cans), potatoes (5 chopped), and salt.

-Simmer until potatoes are cooked.

(I also added in chopped squash, which I added in once potatoes were slightly tender).

-Serve with rice and steamed green beans.

-Selakan makan!

Turns out I forgot to take a picture of the end product, but let me assure you that it is a delicious curry, not spicy (unless you add in a lot of chili peppers). Feeds about 10 people. Lots of leftovers.

Curried Chicken Salad

Here is the recipe this is based on: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/curried-chicken-salad-recipe/index.html

I essentially followed all of their directions except I used plain yoghurt instead of mayo (much healthier).

Place 4 chicken breasts on a sheet pan. Rub olive oil on the top of them, then sprinkle on salt and pepper. Bake at 350 F for ~40 minutes (until done). Remove, let cool. Slice into chunks 1 inch long (approx.).

Meanwhile, combine dressing in blender: 1 cup plain yoghurt, 1/3 cup white wine (optional since yoghurt is quite moist as is), 1/4 cup mango chutney (you can find it at Trader Joes), 3 Tbsp curry powder, and 1 tsp salt (optional). Blend until smooth.

Combine the chicken with enough dressing to moisten well. Add in chopped celery, raisins, and chopped green onions. Let refrigerate for a few hours so the flavors can get to know each other well. Then add some cashews and serve at room temp. Ta-da! Delisioso. :-)

We served this at our open house and it was quite a hit. Not spicy but very yummy.