Title: Burmese Dry Chicken Curry
Categories: Burma Chicken Curry
Yield: 1 Servings

2	lg	Onions, rough chopped
5	cl	Garlic, rough chopped
1/2		In piece fresh root ginger
		Peeled and chopped
2		Sticks lemon grass, roughly
		Chopped
2		Red chillis seeded and
		Chopped (habaneros work
		Well, you'll need rather
		More Thai chillis)
1	tb	Fish sauce (nam pla)
1	ts	Ground turmeric
4	tb	Veg oil
4	lb	Chicken (preferably free
		Range) cut into curry
		Pieces* (skin on but you
	cn	Remove if preferred)
4		Green (or two black)
		Cardamon pods
2	tb	Rough chop coriander leaf
		Salt and fresh pepper

*Curry pieces: cut off both legs and thighs together taking as much meat as possible from the carcass at the top of the thigh, separate legs and thighs. Cut down along breast as far as wing at side of breast bone to expose ribs, cut through ribs at top along length of breast bone, cut through ribs at bottom of breast as far as wing, cut wing at joint with body and remove breast and wing as one piece, cut into two approximately one third along breast from wing.

Grind the first 7 ingredients (ie up to and including the turmeric) together into a smooth paste (food processor/pestle and mortar etc). Heat oil in wide frying pan or wok and add paste, stiry-fry until moisture has evaporated and paste has started to brown. Add chicken pieces and stir well, scrape bottom of pan to prevent sticking. Cover tightly and simmer for 35-45 minutes - there should be enough liquid given off from the chicken during cooking but check now and then and stir. If chicken does get too dry and starts sticking/burning (and it's never happened to me) add a tablespoon or so of water and stir in, scraping residue off bottom of pan.

Shortly before chicken is ready slit open cardamom pods and extract seeds, crush seeds in pestle and mortar and add to chicken with coriander leaf, stir and simmer for a further minute or so, taste and adjust seasoning.

Serve with plain rice or coconut rice. Drink beer: Singha, Bintang or Tiger beers are excellent, Pilsner Urquell is good too.

Ken Hom has a similar recipe but he omits the Nam Pla and adds 1 tbsp dry sherry and two tbsp soy sauce just before the simmering which makes it much more like a Straits Chinese or Nonna dish.

(From Sophie Grigson's Meat Course, Network/BBC Books, London, 1995, ISBN: 0 563 37173 0, an excellent book for all sorts of meat cooking)

Iain Noble Hound Dog Research, Survey and Social Research Consultancy 96 Evelyn Road Sheffield S10 5FG UK

FROM: Chile-Heads Digest & Mailing List

Something's cooking in Uncle Dirty Dave's Kitchen!!! From: Dave Drum Date: 10 Oct 97 National Cooking Echo Ä

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