How to cook a perfect 10-point Chicken Curry with Coconut Milk
Cooking a delicious, standard chicken curry will yield a vibrant yellow or orange-red color, a prominent spicy and sweet taste, a rich and creamy aroma from the coconut milk. Meanwhile, the chicken is tender, flavorful, the sweet potato is gently sweet, and the potatoes and carrots are hearty... It's a delicious dish made from chicken that you should prepare for the whole family to enjoy, it's attractive whether eaten with bread, rice, or noodles.
Ingredients
- 1.5kg local chicken
- 10-15g curry powder
- Coconut milk
- 1.2 liters fresh coconut water
- 400g yellow sweet potatoes
- 250g onions
- 230g potatoes
- 180g carrots
- 1 piece of ginger, 3-4 lemongrass stalks
- 1-2 hot peppers
- 3 dry onions, 4-5 garlic cloves
- Coriander
- Bread or noodles for serving
Ingredient Notes
- You can find curry powder at supermarkets or dried food stores. Curry comes in packaged powder form, or in curry sauce packets or jars of curry oil.
- Choose yellow sweet potatoes for a uniform and eye-catching color for your chicken curry dish. Besides sweet potatoes, you can use taro or cassava when cooking chicken curry.
- For convenience, you can use pre-packaged jars of coconut milk. If you have time, you can make it yourself, the method is the same as cooking duck curry.
Instructions
Prepare the ingredients
Rub the chicken with salt and ginger wine to clean and deodorize it, then wash and chop into bite-sized pieces.
Finely chop the onions, garlic, ginger, and chili.
Peel off the outer layer of the lemongrass, wash, crush the top, then chop finely. Cut the lemongrass body into 2-3 pieces.
Peel the onions and cut into wedges.
Wash the cilantro and chop roughly.
Cut the sweet potatoes, carrots, and potatoes into pieces similar in size to the chicken.
Marinate the chicken
Add 2 tablespoons of cooking oil and 2-3 tablespoons of annatto oil to a pot. Once the oil is hot, sauté the onions, garlic, ginger, lemongrass, and chili. If you want a deeper red color for your curry, you can add a teaspoon of non-spicy chili powder.
Turn off the heat, add the curry powder, stir well, then add the chicken.
The chicken marinade includes:
- 1 tablespoon of fish sauce
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- 1/2 teaspoon of MSG
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
- 1 teaspoon of seasoning powder
- A pinch of ground pepper
Mix well and let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes.
Fry the potatoes and carrots
The sweet potatoes, potatoes, and carrots should be lightly fried in some cooking oil to enhance their flavor and prevent them from disintegrating when cooked. To give the potatoes a rich golden color, you can add a bit of annatto oil to the frying oil.
After frying, season the potatoes with a tablespoon of seasoning powder, toss well and let the potatoes absorb the flavor.
Cook the chicken curry
Once the meat is cooked, add fresh coconut water, making sure it just covers the surface of the chicken. If you prefer more curry sauce, you can add more water as desired. In this recipe, about 1.2 liters of fresh coconut water is used.
When the water boils, reduce the heat, skim off any foam. Cover the pot, and cook for about 30 minutes on low to medium heat.
Remember to skim off any foam occasionally to keep the curry clear and prevent it from turning dark. Avoid cooking on high heat to retain the rich, aromatic flavor of the coconut.
Once the chicken is cooked and tender, add the potatoes and carrots, then cook for an additional 10-15 minutes until the potatoes are done. Avoid stirring too much to prevent the potatoes from breaking.
Adding coconut cream at the end not only enhances the flavor of the curry but also gives it a smooth consistency. Some people also use a bit of cornstarch mixed with cold water to thicken the sauce. Alternatively, you could mash some potato pieces to thicken the sauce, but this could make the curry look cloudy.
Once it boils again, adjust the seasoning to taste. The curry should have a prominent spicy and sweet flavor. After cooking for about 20 more seconds, turn off the heat, ladle the curry into a bowl, and garnish with chopped cilantro.
A perfect chicken curry will have a vibrant orange or deep red color. The sauce should have a moderate thickness, with a prominent spicy and sweet flavor. The chicken is tender and aromatic from being thoroughly stewed with coconut. This rich curry can be served with bread, noodles, or hot rice, making each bite irresistible.
