Chicken curry

A homemade sambal adds punch to this chicken and tomato curry, inspired by Justine’s travels in Malaysia.

Chicken curry. Credit: Malaysia Gourmet

• serves

  4

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  30 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 500 g chicken thighs, cut into quarters
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 4 dried red chillies, soaked for 15 minutes in warm water
• 1 tsp white vinegar, plus 1 tsp for seasoning at end
• 1 tbsp caster sugar, plus a pinch for seasoning at end
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 3 cm piece ginger, minced
• 2 fresh long red chillies
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• Vegetable oil, for shallow frying
• 200 g crushed tomatoes
• Cooked rice, to serve
• Cucumber, to serve

Soaking time: 15 minutes; Marinading time: 30 minutes.

Instructions

1. Combine the chicken, turmeric and a good pinch of salt in a bowl. Marinate for 30 minutes.
2. Once the dried chillies have become tender, extract the seeds and put the chillies in a blender. Combine them with vinegar, sugar, salt, onion, ginger fresh chilli, and garlic. Blend the mixture until it reaches a smooth consistency.
3. Heat oil in a wok or large sauté pan until 180°C. Fry chicken in batches and drain on paper towel.
4. In the same pan of oil, add the chilli paste. Fry off for a minute stirring regularly. Add the tomato and cook for a minute before adding 200 ml of water. Bring to the boil and reduce by one third before returning the chicken.
5. Cook for a further 15 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Season with vinegar and sugar.
6. Serve with rice and cucumber slices.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.