Sometimes my assiareative process starts with an ingredient (like this one and this one), other times it begins with a clear vision of exactly what I want. Such was the case with this chicken curry.
There's nothing innovative, or even creative about this curry, it was just a craving I had one afternoon for something very specific. I suppose most people would go out and buy themselves dinner at a Malaysian or Indonesian restaurant, but I had a pretty good idea about the flavors I was looking for and I had all the ingredients in my pantry already.
I'm not going to try to pin this chicken curry recipe onto a map anywhere, other than to say it was inspired by a rumbling somewhere just south-east of my tummy. Its only claim to authenticity was in its ability to cure my curry craving.
Loaded with umami and full of spices, but neither cloying nor overbearing, it's a soul satisfying meal when paired with a mound of hot coconut rice. This is one of those dishes that comes together fairly quickly, and yet its ease of preparation belies the many layers of complex flavours constructed by the browned meat, caramelized aromatics, coconut milk, fish sauce and spices.
Going light on the coconut milk and using a lot of lemongrass gives this chicken curry a lightness that makes it perfect for the warmer weather we've been having in New York. If I'd had some, I probably would have garnished this with cilantro, but I didn't, so I just sliced up some scallions to make the colours pop a bit more.
📖 Recipe
Units
Ingredients
- 6 whole chicken thighs
- 5 cloves garlic grated into paste
- 1 ginger " knob of grated into paste
- 2 tablespoons garam masala
- 3 onions medium (sliced thin across the rings)
- ½ lemongrass stalk (cut into 3 pieces)
- ½ can coconut milk
- 1 cup water
- 2 teaspoons fish sauce
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ½ pod star anise
- to taste cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Heat a heavy bottomed pot that's big enough to hold all the chicken in a single layer over medium high heat until it's hot. Pat the chicken thighs dry with a paper towel and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Place the chicken skin side down and let some fat render out of the skin. Continue frying undisturbed until the skin is brown and crispy. Flip the thighs over and brown the second side
- Transfer the chicken to a plate then quickly add the garlic, ginger and garam masala and stir to distribute in the oil. You want it just long enough to caramelize the garlic and ginger, but not long enough to burn it. Since the garam masala is brown it's a bit tricky to tell when it's done, but I've found that the mixture gets sticky when the sugars in the garlic and ginger have caramelized. By this point this mixture will be very fragrant and it's where this curry gets its base layer of flavor from to fry
- Add the onions and lemongrass to the mixture and fry, stirring occasionally until it's reduced to about its original volume and takes on a sticky texture (this could take as long as 40 minutes). The caramelized onions give the curry sweetness and depth. By cutting the onion thin, they caramelize faster and by cutting them against the grain (rings), the onions will dissolve into the sauce ¼
- Add the remaining ingredients and return the chicken to the pot. Cover with a lid and bring to a boil. Turn down the heat and cook at a gentle simmer for about an hour, or until the chicken is very tender and falls off the bone
- Garnish with something green (such as cilantro or scallions) and serve with coconut milk rice
Marc Matsumoto says
This recipe really benefits from the creaminess of the coconut milk. You could make it with chicken stock, but it will make it a totally different dish.
Thomas Abraham says
Thanks a bunch. I'm going to make it with coconut milk another time since I don't have any right now. Good to know.
Dawn says
I'm not a big fan of hot curries in fact I'm a bit of a curry wimp but I like to try new flavours and fear my dislike of heat is making me miss out on a world of fabulous food. So I thought I would be brave and give this a go as it didn't mention chillies anywhere and WOW I'm so glad I did this is so tasy and the heat isn't hot it's warming and doesn't take away from the flavours by burning off your taste buds. I will be making this a regular in my meal plans 🙂
Dawn says
I'm not a big fan of hot curries in fact I'm a bit of a curry wimp but I like to try new flavours and fear my dislike of heat is making me miss out on a world of fabulous food. So I thought I would be brave and give this a go as it didn't mention chillies anywhere and WOW I'm so glad I did this is so tasy and the heat isn't hot it's warming and doesn't take away from the flavours by burning off your taste buds. I will be making this a regular in my meal plans 🙂
Ernest says
I tried this and the color was nowhere near yours. Now did you mean to write curry powder instead of the garam masala.
My five year old asked for seconds so it did pass the taste test.
Marc Matsumoto says
Garam Masala simply means spice mixture, so there's no set recipe. The one I used for this probably had more turmeric than yours which probably accounts for the color. Curry Powder is the british version of garam masala and tends to be a little more standardized (though quantities of individual spices vary by brand). As long as it tasted okay, I wouldn't worry too much about the color. If you really want to get it closer to the photo, just add turmeric.
Ernest says
I should have read Mike's comment above. But I actually learnt something today. The turmeric does explain a lot
It tasted great!!
Thanks Chef Marc.
ann says
Oh Mark, this curry is terrific! My blunder was that I used regular salt instead of kosher salt. Am I correct to assume that kosher salt is not as salty as regular salt? I had to use a big cut up potato to absorb the excess saltiness. Other than that, my whole family enjoyed it very much. Thank you for another winner.
Marc Matsumoto says
Glad to hear it:-) Kosher salt has half the salinity of regular salt, so if you use regular salt, you need to halve the amount. The problem with Kosher salt is that different brands have different levels of salinity (Diamond Crystal is half as salty as Morton's), which is why I've started using table salt measurements in more recent posts.
jayjayjojo says
Hi can you tell me what 1 c of water is, I live in ireland and not sure what that is, also can I just use a cinnamon stick , cheers.
jayjayjojo says
Thanks a million , look forward to making it tomorrow for dinner.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi James, 1 US cup = 236 milliliters. Yep, a cinnamon stick would work.
jayjayjojo says
Thanks a million , look forward to making it tomorrow for dinner.
Jo says
Hi Marc, if I was to cook this with 2-3 cut up chickens for a crowd, would I multiply the spices by 3-4?
Marc Matsumoto says
6 whole thighs is probably about 1 whole chicken, so you should be able to just multiply the whole recipe by the number of chickens you use. You'll need to split the browning up though and do it in batches.
Jen says
Can you list the ingredients for the garam masala? The one I got (mild) was just too spicy for my kids...they tolerate no heat. Your dish look so tempting...I would love to try making it again for my kids. Thanks.
Marc Matsumoto says
Hi Jen, the spices in garam masala vary widely depending on who makes it but it usually includes black pepper, cumin, coriander, cloves, bay leaves, cinnamon, black and green cardamom, and nutmeg. I usually like adding some turmeric, fennel seed and fenugreek to it too.