After sampling Ratha Raub's curry chicken at their restaurant and realising how good it was, I did not hesitate to buy their curry paste so that I could cook it at home. I've also made fish curry with their fish head curry paste which turned out to be a success, so I knew that the curry chicken paste will work just as well too.
And so, for my contribution towards the Chinese New Year Eve Reunion Dinner this year, I thought I'd cook Curry Chicken (with some assistance from Ratha Raub, of course) and another dish.
I bought 3 packets of Ratha Raub's Curry Chicken Paste @ RM4.90 a packet. Each packet of 150g is good for 400g of chicken according to the instructions on the pack...and my chicken was quite huge....1.8kg! >.<
Since I only bought 3 packets of curry paste, I had no choice but to use only three even though the ratio of chicken to curry paste wasn't right. And I guess I made it even worse when I added potatoes into the mix (when I wasn't supposed to) but what's a curry chicken without potatoes, right? But, in the end, everything turned out just fine.
The cooking of this Curry Chicken is so simple that, if you blink, you'll miss it....hehe...so, don't blink! :D
I brought to boil 1.2l of water (375ml x 3 packets of curry paste) and added the chicken pieces, potatoes and curry paste all at once...and let it simmer for 10 minutes as per instructions but I decided to cook it for longer (about 20 minutes) since I had a whole lot more chicken. I also happened to have some curry leaves, so I threw some in as well.
Prick the potatoes to test for softness and once you're satisfied that they're soft enough, add the coconut milk (I added two packets of pre-squeezed santan since it was a big pot of curry).
Give it a good stir and....voila......Curry Chicken (courtesy of Ratha Raub) is done! But, if you want really tender chicken, I suggest you put in the chicken first and cook it longer before adding the potatoes (coz the one I ate at Ratha Raub, the chicken was much more tender).
Can a curry chicken be any simpler than this? And what's even better....you get a restaurant quality curry chicken! ;D Taste-wise, it was pretty similar (but not 100%) to the one I tasted at Ratha Raub (even when I did not follow the exact measurements of chicken to curry paste though I did follow the ratio of paste to water).
It's so simple, everyone can make this at home...you could say the recipe is "idiot proof". Even a non-cook can't screw this up. If you manage to flub this, I have no words for you! >_<
It's a great dish that's easy to pull off for large gatherings when you have lots of people coming for dinner as it can be prepared ahead of time.
The other dish that I contributed for the Reunion Dinner was the vegetarian dish of "Loh Hon Chai" (Mixed Vegetables with "Nam Yue" or fermented red bean curd), one of my usual dishes that I've been cooking up the past few years for dinners like these (you can find the recipe here).
Here's my Curry Chicken.....
.....and Loh Hon Chai that I packed up for the "balik kampong" trip last week =)
Our Reunion Dinner usually features 10 - 15 dishes and this year was no different. But, sorry I don't have any photos to show since I was not the host. So, what did you cook up this Chinese New Year? ;) Hope it was a breeze with no untoward incidents! ;D
waaaa looks so good.. u got me hankering for curry chicken tambah potatoes!! :D
ReplyDeleteThis one was literally curry chicken tambah potatoes since the original one from the restaurant didn't contain any.
DeleteYour curry looks so good! I must go to Ratha Raub and grab a packet or two to try it. It's such a breeze using ready made curry paste. And I'm going to check your recipe for Loh Hon Chai because I love this dish. I always eat Loh Hon Chai at the chap fan stall behind my office.
ReplyDeleteSame here....when I see loh hon chai at the chap fan stall, I usually grab it too. Not good cooks (like me) need this ready made curry paste since we won't know how to do it from scratch.
DeleteHaha no leh, I blink many times already while reading, I think I got it all no problem. :P
ReplyDeleteSigh... reading this piece reminds me of my own family. Every CNY eve, my mom would do all the cooking. My dad always invited his brother (my uncle) and family to join us, but his sister-in-law never bothered to contribute some dishes. One time my dad suggested it, she got mad and refused to come for dinner. Really WTF...
Maybe that is because your sister in law is like me, don't like to cook so your uncle should do the cooking like my spouse and contribute some dishes lah. Don't eat only. At least go buy KFC one big barrel to contribute.
DeleteYeah, I can relate to not wanting to cook in someone else's kitchen since we're not familiar with where things are. So, the next best thing is to bring a ready cooked dish (or even something bought) as part of our contribution (that's the least we can do).
Deletechicken & potato curry is a can't-fail for family gatherings ... i'm usually the one greedily grabbing the final piece of chicken and potato from the pot :D
ReplyDeleteYup, it's a can't-fail + easy to cook in large quantities! ;D
DeleteI love both dishes here. I agree curry chicken must have potatoes! :) I can eat many bowls of lohon chai.
ReplyDeleteBut I think curry chicken with potatoes is more of a Chinese thing ;)
DeleteThat day I ate mutton curry in a non Chinese eatery where I usually have roti telur and there were potatoes in the mutton curry, I was so happy.
DeleteI appreciate restaurants that have the option of retail. I've taken hand made pasta home after a great meal. I'd probably do the same with curry too as it seems so complex to make.
ReplyDeleteYou're right....to make a good curry paste is too complex, so better to rely on a tried and tested one! ;)
DeleteAlways a fan of curry chicken but never try to cook at home because my daughter (Sam) not really can take spicy food. Yours definitely looks great enough to make me salivating over my PC monitor LOL
ReplyDeleteYou can always buy one packet of the paste and use part of it to cook enough for just two persons and keep the rest of the paste for another time (though one packet for 400g chicken isn't all that much).
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