Muoi Khuntilanont's Kitchen

kaeng masaman kai

"Muslim Style"chicken curry

Description

This was the first of a series of my wife's Thai recipes posted on theInternet. The "masaman" indicates that the recipe is of a "musselman"or islamic origin, and it probably owes something to early Portugueseinfluences, and is similar in concept to the "sour and hot" Goan stylevindaloo dishes. By Thai standards this is usually afairly mild curry, so I findit is a good starting point. It is also one of my favorite curries.

The curry paste can be prepared in advance and stored in the fridge in apreserving jar for several weeks or even months.

The potatoes used can be 'normal' western style potatoes, or any of thesweet potatoes. (I prefer the latter, as it seems to complement the flavor ofthe curry, and western style potatoes are for from common, and quite expensivein Thailand, so clearly not the normal authentic component of the dish).

This recipe can also be prepared with pork (kaeng masaman mu) or beef (kaengmasaman nuea)

A recipe for the masaman curry paste can be found here.

Ingredients

• 1 pound of chicken, cut into "bite sized pieces"
• 5 small potatoes, peeled and partly boiled.
• 5 peeled, but whole, small onions. (the type sometimes sold as "picklingonions")
• 3 cups of coconut milk.
• 3 tablespoons palm sugar (you can use a light brown sugar instead if youcan't get palm sugar)
• 3 tablespoons tamarind juice (this is the "sour" ingredient - youcan use white vinegar instead if you can't get tamarind juice. The juice is madeby soaking tamarind paste in a little water then squeezing it out, and runningit through a sieve to extract the juice from the pulp).
• 3 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 tablespoons roasted peanuts (unsalted), broken
• 1-3 tablespoons masaman curry paste
• 1-3 teaspoons crushed garlic.
• 3 bay leaves,
• 5 roasted cardomom fruits (i.e. the whole pod)
• a small piece of roasted cinnamon bark

Method

Allow the coconut milk to separate, bu leaving it standing in a cool place,and you will have about 1 cup of thick "cream" and two cups of thin "milk".In a small saucepan bring the milk to a simmer and add the chicken or pork. Ifyou are using beef you will need another two cups of milk. simmer the meat untilit is beginning to become tender (beef takes longer, hence the additional milk).

Put the coconut cream in a wok and bring to a boil, add the masaman pasteand "stir fry" until the flavor is brought out and maximised. Thecoconut oil will seperate out and can be skimmed off with a spoon or ladle.(this removes much of the vegetable 'cholesterol', and makes the dish much lesstrouble for those watching their weight or heart).

Add the remaining cream and curry paste to the meat.

Add the peanuts. taste and adjust the flavor until it is (just) sweet (byadding sugar), sour and salty (by adding tamarind juice, lime juiceand fishsauce).

Add the remaining ingredients and cook until cooked.

Note: The potatoes act as a"moderator" to reduce the heatof the curry, and should not be left out.

Serving

You can either serve it on a bed of rice, or double the amount of potatoeand serve it alone. Accompany it with a dressed green salad and a bowl ofpickled cucumbers.The traditional Thai table also offers chillies in fish sauce(prik nampla) chillies in vinegar (prik nam som or prik dong), powdered chilli(prik phon - not to be confused with the powdered chilli mix sold as chillipowder in the US - it only contains chillis), sugar, and often MSG.

You can if you wish add about a teaspoon of MSG to the above recipe to bringout the flavors, but I personally don't think it is necesary.