Ayam Kapitan @ Nyonya Chicken Curry 甲必丹娘儿咖喱鸡

Nyonya chicken curry, another famous Peranakans cuisine from Malaysia. It is a kind of curry cooked without adding in curry powder. As I know, most nyonya food use a lot of sour or tangy ingredients in their cooking for instance kaffir leaves, lime juice, tamarind & more. Nyonya cooking is known as the result by blending in Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques into Malay cuisine. Please refer here to find out more stories regarding Kapitan chicken. I have tried cooking this particular flavour with giant prawns. Oh my, my kids are loving it. Its a super scrumptious dish. And recently I was inspired by Sonia.  So this round, I am preparing it with chicken meat. Unlike most recipe, I personally prefer to fry the meat before braised it with the sourish gravy. Hubby said it tastes so much difference from the one without frying. Please read on to find out more.

Ingredients :
2  whole chicken leg, cut into 3 portion each
2 TB    turmeric powder
7 pcs   keffir lime leaves
6 pcs   tamarind slices
1  key lime juice
100ml   coconut milk or 1 pkt coconut powder
1 TB   brown sugar
1 tspn  vegetarian granules & salt to taste
2 stalk   lemongrass, smashed
2 cups   water

Ingredients for blended paste :
5  shallots
5  garlic cloves
1 inch  ginger
1 inch  galangal / blue ginger
1 stalk   lemongrass, only the white part
15   dried chilies, soaked to soften
one small piece of belacan (shrimp paste), slightly toasted
(gather everything into grinder, add in 1/2 cup cooking oil & grind into paste)
I omitted candlenuts

Method :
(1)  marinade chicken pieces with turmeric powder & rest for 20 minutes, then fry till golden brown.
(2)  preheat wok with 1 cup of cooking, stir in blended paste & smashed lemongrass and saute till fragrant & red.
(3)  add in fried chicken, tamarind slices & (5 pcs) of kaffir leaves (slice the remaining leaves), mix well.
(4)  next, add in water and bring it to boil.

(5)  now, stir in coconut milk and continue boiling till thicken, it takes roughly about 15 minutes.
(6)  finally,  add in salt, sugar, granule & lime juice and continue cooking for another 2 minutes. Off the heat & serve.

I'm run out of coconut milk & tamarind paste that day and replaced it with coconut powder and tamarind slices instead. Gosh, it still tastes fantastically !  The gravy looks really really good as well. Overall, its truly satisfying. Two of our guests polished everything off quietly.... by adding in extra rice. haha..... Glad you guys loving it.