Nyonya Curry Chicken

This is one of the best curry chicken i ever had..infact i love the many versions of curry chicken; be it indian style , chinese style or malay style. I learnt this from a relative of mine but as we know, home style chinese cooking doesnt really have a proper recipe or exact amount of what to put in so i just tried my best to cook like hers..knowing what the ingredients are. This is a replicate version of her nyonya style curry chicken, very aromatic and i know one of the ingredient that makes it so aromatic is the kerisik, that we call pounded toasted grated coconut , we can easily get this from the wet market or supermarkets. Together with the coconut milk, this curry chicken is wonderfully fragrant. You can always adjust the amount of coconut milk if you prefer less creamy ..you may think this is a bit unhealthy dish but to have this once in a while, it's really no big deal.

Ingredients:
 1 small whole chicken, (mine approx 800gm after cutting into pieces)
 2 star anise
 1 cinnamon stick
 150gm thick coconut milk
 50gm kerisik
 80gm chilli boh ( chilli paste)
 2 blades pandan leaves, knotted
 6 tbsps of cooking oil
 salt and sugar to taste
 chicken seasoning powder ( optional)

Pounded ingredients:
big onions - 100gm
small onions/shallots - 50gm
garlic- 30gm
kunyit- 1 small piece, thumbsized
lemongrass - 2 stalks, white parts only
dry prawns - a small handful
belacan -  about 1"x1"

Method:
1. Pour oil into a wok over low fire and saute pounded ingredients until fragrant.  Add in chilli boh and continue frying , this process takes about 10 minutes.
2.Add in star anise and pandan leaves and cook for 3 minutes
3.Add in the kerisik and the chicken. Keep tossing and stirring, adjust to medium-high fire and pour in some coconut milk or add a little water if you find it too dry and cook for a few minutes, add in the balance of thick coconut milk, stir them around and let simmer until chicken is tender.
4. Lastly, add salt and sugar to taste. You can also add in some chicken seasoning powder here.

I am submitting this post to 3 hungry tummies for the Muhibbah Malaysian Monday Event