Chicken Curry Kapitan

Rick Stein indicates that all the ingredients required for this Malaysian curry can be bought in a supermarket. I have to note that dried Kashmiri chillies have been impossible for me to source. Apparently these chillies are medium in heat and give a beautiful red colour to the dish. I used some dried chillies I had and wonder if they were a little hotter than the kashmiri chillies would have been.

The base of this dish is a Malaysian Kapitan paste made from Kashmiri chillies, shallots, five-spice powder, turmeric, garlic, ginger, lemon grass, shrimp paste and vegetable oil. The spice paste is cooked before adding the chicken pieces, coconut milk, cinnamon sticks, palm sugar and salt. Rick Stein mentions that this curry is a wonderful combination of coconut, palm sugar, cinnamon, ginger and star anise however there is no star anise in the ingredient list! I added one with the cinnamon stick anyway. After the curry has cooked for about half an hour you add lime juice and ground roasted desiccated  coconut. The curry is served sprinkled with coriander leaves.

This was quite a spicy curry but the flavours were fantastic! It is named "Kapitan" after the Chinese official who acted as the go-between between the Chinese and Malay rulers. This curry is considered a perfect example of nyonya cuisine which is a fusion of Chinese and Malay cuisines.

Rating 7 out of 10.