Singapore-Style South-Indian Chicken Curry

For this months random recipe bloggers challenge, Dom at Belleau Kitchen challenged us to use the first cookbook we ever bought or were given. Now I haven't a clue what mine was and if I did have the slightest idea it would probably be a couple of hundred miles away back in my home county of Cumbria. So I changed it a little bit (sorry Dom) to the first cookbook I bought when I left for university all those many moons ago. The cookbook I bought was Madhur Jaffrey's Ultimate Curry Bible which I picked up in a charity shop for the absolute bargain price of £3.75.

The recipe I landed on after flicking through was right up my street this time (thankfully) and here it is:

Singapore-Style South-Indian Chicken Curry (serves 4)
Ingredients

2 1/2 tbsp Madras curry powder
4 chicken legs, divided into thigh and drumstick (skinned if you prefer)
3 tbsp corn or peanut oil
6 medium shallots, finely chopped
5cm piece of ginger, peeled and finely chopped
6 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
15-20 curry leaves
1 medium cinnamon stick
4-5 dried hot chillies
4 small waxy red potatoes, peeled and halved
1 3/4 tsp salt
350ml can of coconut milk
2 tbsp tamarind paste
2 medium tomatoes, cut into 8 pieces

Method
Rub 1 1/2 tbsp of curry powder into the chicken and set aside.
Add the rest to 250ml of water and set aside

Pour the oil into a frying pan
Once hot, add the shallots, half the ginger, half the garlic, curry leaves, cinnamon stick and red chillies

Stir and fry for 5 minutes until golden.

Add the curry powder water mixture.

Stir and cook for about 5 minutes
Transfer everything into a larger pan with a lid and add potatoes, chicken, salt and 250ml of water.

Stir and bring to the boil
Stick the lid on and leave to simmer for 25 minutes.
Add the coconut milk and tamarind
Stir and cook uncovered for 5 minutes

It can be left here for several hours if prepping in advance

Reheat if required and add the tomatoes and the remaining ginger and garlic
Cook for a further 5 minutes
Serve with rice.

Enjoy

Verdict
Very tasty curry, chicken is very tender with a lovely combination of spices. Next time I may reduce the sauce a bit because it was a bit to runny for my liking and use a slightly hotter madras powder.