Malaysian Chicken Curry

This is a fabulous recipe from Gordon Ramsay.  It is really tasty and even though it looks time consuming, it isn't.  I made this early one morning and re-heated it up for dinner that evening as curries generally taste better 'the next day'.  This recipe made a lot so it served us a couple of good-sized meals.  Will definitely be making this again in the future.  You should too.

*Taken from Gordon Ramsay's 'Sunday Lunch', page 116, published 2006*

Ingredients

For the Curry Paste

5 garlic cloves, peeled & roughly chopped

4-5 long, red chillies, trimmed, deseeded & roughly chopped (I used 3)

3 lemongrass stalks, trimmed, outer leaves removed & thinly sliced

5cm piece root ginger, peeled & chopped

4 large shallots, peeled & chopped

1 tsp ground tumeric

2-3 tbs groundnut oil

For the Curry

1 kg skinless & boneless chicken thighs

2 tbs groundnut oil

2 onions, peeled & thinly sliced

sea salt & freshly ground pepper

4 kaffir lime leaves

1 cinnamon stick

3 star anise

400ml coconut milk

100ml Chicken stock

1 tsp palm sugar (or soft brown sugar)

2 tsp light soy sauce

2 tbs fish sauce

400g green beans, trimmed & cut into 5cm lengths

handful coriander leaves, roughly torn

Method

First make the curry paste.  Put the garlic, chillies, lemongrass, ginger, shallots and tumeric in a food processor and whiz to a paste.  With the motor running, trickle in the groundnut oil and blend well, scraping the sides of the processor several times.  (Or you can pound the ingredients together in batches using a pestle and mortar.)

To make the curry, cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.  heat the groundnut oil in a large cast-iron casserole or heavy-based pan.  Tip the curry paste and stir over a medium heat for a few minutes until fragrant.  Add the onions and cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes until they are beginning to soften.

Season the chicken piece with salt and pepper.  Add to the pan and stir to coat them in the spice paste.  Add the lime leaves, cinnamon stick, star anise, coconut milk, stock, sugar, soy and fish sauces and bring to the boil.  Reduce the heat to a simmer and cook gently for 30-40 minutes until the chicken is tender.

Skim off any excess oil on the surface of the curry.  Taste and adjust the seasoning.  Tip in the green beans, put the lid on and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the beans are tender.  Scatter the coriander leaves over the curry and serve with rice.

Serves 6