Ayam Masak Merah with Nasi Lemak

Coconut rice, sambal telor, ayam masak merah & fried tofu

I have mentioned before that I have spent the first 7 years of my life living with a Malay family. I was that anak cina who spoke melayu and who balik rumah to makan babi and could no longer speak the language. But every year during the Hari Raya, we would faithfully return to visit Mak - and eat all the goodies that only she knows how to prepare. Mak is very old now and I am no longer in Singapore, but my mom and mèimei (younger sister) are keeping the tradition alive.

I wish that I have been able to learn how to cook from her. I still think of this clear fish soup that she made when I was a child that was absolutely delicious. I've never eaten this soup anywhere else and I do not even know how to describe it to her now. Maybe later on I will experiment and make one fish soup after another to try and get it right.

And of course I love her Ayam Masak Merah or Red Curry with Chicken. The Malays usually serve this with tomato rice, but I much prefer it with Nasi Lemak. I cannot claim to be able to do it as well she could, but this is by far one of the versions I'm reasonably happy with - until I work out a better one.

Ayam Masak Merah

Ayam Masak Merah :

The Chicken :

6 skinless upper chicken thighs

1-2 Tsp Ground Turmeric

A pinch of

Ground Cinnamon

Ground Cloves

Ground Coriander

Ground Cumin

Salt

Pepper

The Gravy :

Shallots

Garlic

Ginger

Fresh Chillies

Dried Chillies

Red Onion

Lemongrass (bashed)

Galangal

Cinnamon stick

Star anis

Green cardamoms

Whole cloves

Warm water

Kecap Manis

1 tsp Honey

1/2 tin canned tomato purée

Fresh Tomatoes

Salt

Kaffir Lime leaves

Fresh coriander leaves

Marinated chicken

Marinate the chicken pieces with the ground spices for an hour. Fry till golden, drain on kitchen towel and set aside.

Fried chicken

Blend the shallots, garlic, ginger and chillies into a paste.

Using some of the same oil, fry the red onions, lemongrass, galangal and the whole spices till fragrant then add in the paste. When the oil seeps out, add in the fresh tomatoes and sweet soy sauce.

Then pour in some warm water and stir well. Add in the tomato purée and honey, salt to taste and finally the kaffir lime leaves. Cover and leave to simmer for a few minutes.

Return the fried chicken pieces to the pan and coat them in the gravy. Simmer for another 10-15 minutes.

Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and serve hot with nasi lemak. There is usually no need for coconut milk in this curry and in any case there is already alot of coconut milk in the nasi lemak.

I didn't make my own sambal this afternoon as the process tends to stink and smoke too much. Used a packet of Prima Taste's Nonya Sambal Chilli and it was quite good. I wish now that I had bought other packets the last time I was home. I cooked the hard boiled eggs in them for my Sambal Telor. Bye bye diet, hello winter.