Amy's spicy Nyonya chicken

Preparation time

less than 30 mins

Cooking time

30 mins to 1 hour

Serves

Serves 4

Recommended by

8 people

This is a simple South-East Asian chicken curry, rich and fragrant with spices. The person who introduced me to this dish, Amy, says she often stirs in a little lime juice and coconut milk at the end to ‘wake up the curry’.

By Rick Stein

From Rick Stein's Far Eastern Odyssey

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Ingredients

For the spice paste

6 dried red chillies, preferably Kashmiri, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, then drained
75g/2¾oz shallots, thinly sliced
3 fat lemongrass stalks, hard outer leaves removed, soft inner core chopped
40g/1½oz garlic, peeled, roughly chopped
1 tsp shrimp paste (available from some supermarkets and Asian grocers)
25g/1oz galangal or root ginger, peeled, roughly chopped
2 tbsp vegetable oil

For the chicken

2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 x 1.5kg/3lb 5oz chicken, cut into 8 pieces
2 lemongrass stalks, bruised with a rolling pin then cut in half lengthways
4 lime leaves
200ml/7fl oz water
1 tsp palm sugar (available from some supermarkets and Asian grocers; substitute golden caster sugar if unavailable)
1 lime, juice only
salt, to taste

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Method

For the spice paste, blend all of the spice paste ingredients together in a food processor until smooth.
For the chicken, heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan over a medium heat, add the chicken pieces and fry until pale golden-brown all over.
Add the spice paste to the pan and fry for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant.
Add the bruised lemongrass stalks, lime leaves and water and bring the mixture to a simmer. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, turning the chicken pieces over now and again, until the chicken pieces are completely cooked through and the volume of liquid has reduced by about a half. (NB: The chicken pieces are cooked through when the juices run clear when pierced in the thickest part with a skewer.)
When the chicken is cooked through, stir in the palm sugar and lime juice and season, to taste, with salt.
Serve immediately in serving bowls.