Easy Kari Ayam (Chicken Curry)

For some reason, I fail at making Malay dishes. Its embarrassing. Even Hadi can make a decent chicken curry (albeit from those ready-made pastes) but I couldn't. I have no idea why. I tried making kari ayam from the same paste thingy that he used... but it somehow didn't work out. Don't ask me why.

But anyway, I'm always on the lookout for kari ayam recipes, though I know the recipe depends on the cook, of course. And many of the ones I've seen have long long long lists of ingredients, which may not be easily available (or afforddable!) here in the UK. So when I came across this particular recipe (offline source), I was pleased. It looked easy to do, doesn't have a lot of fancy ingredients, so .. I can probably make it right? But the big question is... will it taste good? Here we go!

What you need:
(serves 1)
1 tablespoon oil
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
2 teaspoons garlic, minced
200g chicken - I used 4 wings
2-3 teaspoons curry powder, adjust according to taste
1/4 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 carrot, sliced into 1cm pieces - omitted
1 small potato, sliced into 1cm pieces
1 cube chicken stock
250mL water
100mL coconut cream (santan kelapa - correct right?)

What you do:

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan/wok. Add in the ginger and garlic and fry until it starts smelling good. Add in the chicken pieces and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until nice and golden all over..
2. Add in the curry and turmeric powders and stirfry for about a minute.
3. Add in the carrots, potatoes, chicken stock cube and water. Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through and sauce is nice and thickened.
4. Add in the coconut cream and stir to mix. Simmer for about 2-3 minutes.
5. Taste and adjust seasoning, adding more curry powder, chilli powder (if you want it spicier) or salt as necessary. Serve with white rice, or roti canai (murtabak). Yum!

As simple as this recipe was... I still managed to mess it up slightly, by adding in the coconut cream together with the water. So it was simmering for about 15 minutes also. Dunno if that would matter, but nothing I could do about it, so I had to go ahead with it, hehe.

Anyway, as you can see, this is a really really basic chicken curry. Curry powder, potatoes, chicken and coconut milk. I really think the turmeric is there just for colour, haha. No fancy spices or anything. So don't expect much from this recipe, okay? I am not a miracle worker, haha. But in the end, I didn't think it was too bad, really. I found it a bit too sweet, maybe I added too much coconut milk (or maybe I wasn't supposed to boil it?). But compared to my previous attempts, it was a veritable feast, hehe.

The only breakfast I like to eat here at Brunei Hall is the one they serve on Thursdays, which is chicken curry with murtabak. I haven't had it in awhile though, so I replicated it here by eating this curry with murtabak. Mmmmmmmm, yummy!

It really was not too bad, considering. I definitely wouldn't mind having this again, so yay! I can add a really basic curry to my repertoire now, hehe.

Quote of the day: This curry was like a performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony that I'd once heard.....especially the last movement, with everything screaming and banging 'Joy.' It stunned, it made one fear great art. My father could say nothing after the meal.