Ingredients

The following ingredients have 6 Servings
  • 1 chicken or large wild fowl (about 1.6kg), cut into 6 pieces
  • 1 small brown onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 tbsp white vinegar
  • 4 garlic cloves
  • 2 pieces of pandan leaf, roughly torn
  • 1 sprig curry leaves, leaves picked
  • 2 long red chillies, chopped
  • 4 small green chillies, chopped
  • 2 tsp ground brown mustard seeds
  • 10 black peppercorns
  • 15 gm turmeric (3cm piece)
  • ½ tsp whole brown mustard seeds
  • 90 ml vegetable oil
  • 10 cm piece of sandalwood or a few drops of pure sandalwood oil (see note above)
  • 6 whole cloves
  • 4 cardamom pods, cracked
  • ½ tsp dark roasted curry powder
  • 1 tbsp chilli powder
  • 80 ml malt vinegar
  • 1 stalk lemongrass
  • 1 cinnamon quill
  • ¼ tsp fenugreek seeds, dry-roasted
  • 500 ml coconut cream (2 cups)
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • 10 dried red chillies, dry-roasted

Instruction

  • Place chicken in a large bowl with the onion, white vinegar, garlic, pandan leaf, curry leaves, and red and green chilli, and toss to coat the chicken. Add the ground mustard seeds and peppercorns and season to taste with salt. Massage the mixture into the chicken and marinate for at least 20 minutes.
  • Meanwhile, using a mortar and pestle, crush the turmeric with the whole mustard seeds to form a paste. Set aside.
  • Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Remove the chicken from the spice marinade, reserving the marinade. Once the oil is hot, place the chicken, skin-side down, in the pan and cook until the skin is crisp (4-6 minutes). Turn the chicken over and cook the other side until browned (2-3 minutes). Remove from the heat and set aside.
  • Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in a large saucepan over medium heat, add the reserved spice marinade and the sandalwood (if using) and fry until fragrant (2-3 minutes). Add the cloves and cardamom and fry for 3 minutes. Add the turmeric paste, curry powder and chilli powder and season to taste. Add the malt vinegar and scrape the base of the pan with a wooden spatula to remove any stuck-on spices. Add the chicken, lemongrass, cinnamon, fenugreek, sandalwood oil (if using) and 500ml water and gently simmer until the chicken is cooked through (45 minutes-1 hour), stirring occasionally and topping up the water as necessary to ensure the water level doesn't drop too much.
  • Add the coconut cream and bring to the boil, then immediately remove from the heat and stir in the lime juice.
  • To serve, remove the chicken from the pan and pile high on a plate. Garnish with the dried red chillies.