Burmese Chicken, Cardamom, Lemon and Coconut Curry

We are definitely curry fans in this house.  And I am a big fan of Belinda Jeffery and her really useful, well-written cookbooks, as you know.  This recipe is from her latest - In Belinda's Kitchen.  I know I've said it before: Belinda is a lovely lady, and her recipes are easy to make, and always turn out well.

Speaking of curry, some years ago in our crazy youth, Mr P. and I cooked up a few vats of various types of curry and transported them to a big park in the CBD - at night, laid out on the rotunda, inviting lots of friends.  I think we called it Curry in a Hurry, or maybe just Curry in the Park.  (Sadly, a young student was murdered in this park some years later.)  

We made rice, and raita, and our version of a sweet, pineapple and coconut yoghurt which we called Soul of Tropic (heaven knows why).  Probably lucky we weren't arrested as the Police Headquarters is right near by, and we were rowdy as heck.  I still can't picture how we got all that hot curry to the park.  Ah, our foolish youth :=)   

chicken (and potato) curry dinner - always a hit

Serves 6-8:

ingredients:

60 mL/2 big oz of a neutral oil

2 onions (brown or red), finely sliced

6 massive cloves of garlic, finely chopped

1/4 cup fresh ginger, finely chopped  - see Notes

2-4 small red chillies, finely chopped - or blitz the ginger and chillies together in your small food processor, like I did :=)  And the garlic!

6 cardamom pods or 1/2 tsp cardamom seeds - see Notes 

2 tsp ground turmeric

1.25 Tbs sweet paprika

3 tsp Thai red curry paste

1 lemon

140 mL/5 oz coconut cream or coconut milk (low-fat is fine)

400g./14 oz tin of diced tomatoes (or just chop up a tin of regular tomatoes, in the tin with a pair of scissors)

1 tsp sea salt flakes

8-10 large chicken thighs, skin on if you fancy (I didn't), cut into large chunks - say, each thigh into 3 or 4

2-3 large potatoes, cut into chunks (no need to peel) - optional

To serve:

Mint, parsley or coriander leaves, chopped or torn

lime wedges

jasmine rice, steamed or boiled

mango chutney

cucumber, diced and mixed with yoghurt and mint

Method:

Grab a large frying pan, and heat up the oil over a low heat

Add the onion, garlic, ginger and chilli to the pan, and cook for about 20 minutes till soft and golden - give it a stir every so often

On goes your oven to 180C/360F to heat up, while you crush the cardamom pods and smash the seeds a bit if you're going that way

If using ground cardamom and seeds from a jar, just chuck 'em into the onion mixture with the turmeric, paprika and curry paste

Give it all a stir, and cook for a couple of minutes, then turn off the heat

Now peel the lemon (without the pith), chop into small chunks and discard any seeds

Into the pan go the lemon chunks, coconut cream, tomatoes and salt; stir in well then turn off the heat

Now put the chicken thigh pieces and potato chunks into a large roasting tin, throw the spicy, onion-y mixture over everything, and give it all a really good mix with your gloved hands (or a big spoon)

Whack the tin into your now-hot oven, and bake for about 1.25 to 1.5 hours, turning the chicken half-way thru if using thighs with skin on; otherwise just let it rip

Belinda says that if you have a lot of oil on top of the dish once it's cooked, just grab a paper towel and soak it up to get rid of it

Serve with the accompaniments

Notes:

Don't worry too much about measuring the amount of ginger; just chuck in however much you like

I started pounding away at my cardamom pods, then gave it up as a bad job and shoved in some ground cardamom with the seeds I had managed to recover from the pods  (You can buy cardamom seeds, or ground cardamom seeds in a small jar apparently)

Belinda didn't say what to do with the lemon zest, so I decided to freeze it for another time; maybe another curry?

ingredients gathered

zap your aromates

start cooking off the aromatics

peel and chop the lemon (throw the zest into the freezer for later use)

add the other ingredients and stir them in well

smoosh the paste all over the chicken and potatoes

smells delicious!

throw on some parsley

c. Sherry M.