Malay Curry Paste Recipes

Steps:

• Combine shallots, chile peppers, lemongrass, almonds, cilantro, garlic, ginger, and 2 tablespoons peanut oil in a food processor; pulse into a smooth paste. Measure out 1 cup of paste into a large bowl. Add chicken thighs and mix until thoroughly coated.
• Heat 1 tablespoon peanut oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat. Pan-fry chicken in batches until cooked through and no longer pink in the center, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a large plate using a slotted spoon; set aside.
• Place onion, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, orange bell pepper, and carrot in the same skillet. Cook and stir until softened, about 5 minutes. Add snow peas; cook and stir until slightly softened but still crisp, about 1 minute.
• Return chicken to the skillet. Stir in coconut milk, sugar, and salt. Simmer until flavors combine, 10 to 15 minutes.

Steps:

• Saute onion in oil until soft and golden.
• Add garlic and ginger and saute for a minute.
• Deglaze pot with a little water.
• Add tomato, red wine vinegar, tomato paste, chutney, apricot jam, turmeric and cinnamon.
• Add chicken to mixture, and pour in enough water to cover the chicken.
• OPTIONAL: You can add chopped and peeled potatoes to the curry at this stage. They're delicious this way, and mean you don't have to cook rice!
• Simmer for 30-45 minutes, or until chicken is done.
• TASTE MIXTURE BEFORE SERVING AND MAKE ADJUSTMENTS. If it's too sweet, add more vinegar and salt. If it's too acidic, add sugar. If it's not hot enough, add more curry paste. Essentially, there's no one recipe that will make a curry to please everyone, so you have to taste and add.

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan, saute onion and garlic until onion is clear.
• Add next six ingredients and simmer for about 30 minute.
• Add the preserves and stir until dissolved.
• Let the sauce cool, then toss it in the blender. Blend until smooth.
• Stir in the yogurt.

Steps:

• First make the curry paste. Put the garlic, chillies, lemon grass, ginger, shallots and turmeric in a food processor and whiz to a paste. With the motor running, trickle in a little groundnut oil and blend well, scraping the sides of the processor several times. (Or you can pound the ingredients together in batches using a pestle and mortar).
• To make the curry, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Heat the groundnut oil in a large cast-iron casserole or heavy-based pan. Tip in the curry paste and stir over a medium heat for a few minutes until fragrant. Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes until they are beginning to soften.
• Season the chicken pieces with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and stir to coat them in the spice paste. Add the lime leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise, coconut milk, stock, sugar, soy and fish sauces and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook gently for 30 to 40 minutes until the chicken is tender.
• For the rice, rinse the grains in cold water to get rid of any excess starch. Drain and tip into a heavy-based pan. Add the rest of the ingredients with 200ml water, stir well and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and gently simmer for 10 minutes. Leaving the lid on, remove the pan from the heat and leave to stand for 5 to 10 minutes. Fluff the rice with a fork and serve while still hot.
• Skim off any excess oil on the surface of the curry. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Tip in the beans, put the lid on and cook for another 3 or 4 minutes until the beans are tender. Scatter the coriander leaves over the curry and serve with the coconut rice.