Kachin chicken curry
This is adapted from one of my favourite books, Burma: Rivers of Flavor, by Naomi Duguid. It’s full of recipes that are healthy, fresh, light and unexpected. This dish is pretty mild, so I like it with the Chilli sauce to lift it all.
Ingrediënten
- 700 g 1lb 9oz skinless bone-in chicken thighs
- 6 garlic cloves finely chopped
- 2.5 cm 1in root ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 tsp sea salt flakes
- 4 small dried red chillies finely chopped
- 1½ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp turmeric
- 1 tbsp groundnut oil
- salt and pepper
- 3 spring onions chopped
- 1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
- lime wedges
Instructies
- Halve each chicken thigh by chopping through the centre, cutting right through the bone; you can cut each thigh in four if you want, it does cook more quickly that way.
- (You need a meat cleaver or a heavy knife for this.
- ) Be careful that there are no splinters of bone in the chicken flesh.
- Pound together the garlic, ginger, salt, chillies, ground coriander and turmeric in a mortar and pestle until you have something like a paste.
- Add 1 tbsp of water, put the chicken in a bowl and pour the paste over it.
- Turn the chicken over to make sure it all gets coated.
- If you have time, cover it and put it in the fridge for an hour or so.
- Bring it to room temperature before cooking.
- Add 2 tbsp more water and the groundnut oil to the chicken, then put everything – including the marinade juices – in a wide heavy-based pan that has a tight-fitting lid.
- Place over a mediumlow heat, cover and bring to a simmer.
- Reduce the heat to very low and cook for 45 minutes.
- That sounds like a long time, but it should be slow and gentle.
- Taste for seasoning and adjust it if necessary.
- Top with the spring onions and chopped coriander, plus the chilli sauce suggested in the recipe introduction (if you feel like it) and lime wedges.
- Rice topped with crispy-fried shallots is good on the side, as is a vibrant, crunchy salad.
