Chicken Or Prawn Javanese Beer Curry Recipes

JAVANESE CHICKEN CURRY (OPOR AYAM)

Steps:

• In a small food processor, whirl coriander seeds until finely ground. Add chili, shallots, garlic, galangal and ginger and process to a smooth paste, adding a tablespoon or so of water if needed. (Ingredients can also be chopped finely, then pounded together in mortar and pestle.)
• Heat oil in a large heavy pot over medium heat. When oil is hot enough to gently sizzle a pinch of paste, add all the paste and cook, stirring often, until golden, 5 to 7 minutes. Reduce heat as needed to prevent browning.
• Using a heavy object like a glass measuring cup, smash lemon grass stalk, crushing lightly just until bendable. Tie in a knot, pulling gently on both ends. Add to pot with cinnamon and lime leaves. Cook 1 minute more, until cinnamon is fragrant.
• Scrape paste to one side and add chicken to pot. Raise heat and brown chicken lightly on both sides, about 10 minutes total. Add 1 cup coconut milk, 1 1/4 cups water and salt, stirring well and scraping up browned bits from bottom of pot. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook uncovered 40 to 50 minutes, until chicken is cooked through and sauce is thickened. Do not boil.
• Add remaining coconut milk and heat through. Taste for salt. Let cool slightly and serve.

QUICK CHICKEN AND SHRIMP CURRY (MAKE-AHEAD OPTION)

Steps:

• Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and curry paste. Stir frequently until onions soften, 5 minutes. Meanwhile, place shrimp in a sieve. Rinse under cold running water until any ice crystals melt. Once onions are softened, stir in coconut milk and honey. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 to 7 minutes.
• Meanwhile, remove and discard skin from chicken, then pull off meat and tear or cut into bite-size chunks. Slice peppers into thick pieces. Coarsely chop cilantro. Stir shrimp, chicken, peppers and peas into coconut-milk mixture.
• Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until shrimp are hot, 3 to 5 minutes. If using uncooked shrimp, cook until pink, about 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in coriander. Slice lime into wedges and serve alongside curry. Great with jasmine rice.
• Make Ahead:.
• Prepare recipe to end of step 1. Cover and refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze up to 1 month. Defrost then bring to a simmer. Continue with recipe as written.

JAVANESE CHICKEN CURRY

Steps:

• 1. First, make the flavoring paste. Place the chile, shallots, garlic, galangal, ginger, and coriander in a small food processor, and pulse until the coriander is well ground (no visible bits or pieces should remain) and you have a smooth paste the consistency of creamy mashed potatoes. (If the paste will not purée properly, and repeatedly creeps up the side of the food processor instead of grinding, add up to 2 tablespoons of water to it, 1 tablespoon at a time, periodically turning the processor off and scraping the unground portions with a spoon down toward the blade as you go.) Set aside.
• 2. Rinse the chicken under cold running water and pat it dry with paper towels. If using a whole chicken, for authenticity cut it into 16 pieces. If using precut chicken parts, you can leave them whole. Set aside.
• 3. Heat the oil in a 3- or 4-quart saucepan, Dutch oven, or soup pot over medium-low heat. Test to see if the oil is the right temperature by adding a pinch of the ground paste. The paste should sizzle slightly around the edges, not fry aggressively or sit motionless. When the oil is the correct temperature, add all the ground flavoring paste and sauté, stirring every 10 seconds or so to prevent sticking and burning, until the paste begins to separate from the oil and the smell of raw garlic and shallots has dissipated, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the cinnamon, tied lemongrass, lime leaves, and daun salam leaves (if using) and stir to combine them with the flavoring paste. Continue sautéing until you can clearly smell the fragrance of cinnamon, about 1 minute.
• 4. Add the chicken and raise the heat to medium. Sauté the chicken in the flavoring paste, moving it around often with a large spoon or spatula to prevent sticking or scorching. Turn each piece so that it sauts in the oil, until they are evenly golden brown, about 10 minutes. (You need not brown the chicken in two batches - it's fine if the chicken is piled in 2 layers, as long as you adjust the pieces in the pot so they all eventually brown.)
• 5. Add 1 cup of the unsweetened coconut milk, the water, and the salt to the chicken. Stir well to combine, blending the flavoring paste with the liquids and scraping from the bottom of the pot to bring up all the bits of flavor stuck to the surface, and bring to a low, steady simmer. Let the coconut milk simmer, stirring occasionally, until the fats from the chicken and coconut milk have risen to the surface and the chicken is tender and cooked through, but not falling apart from the bone, 40 to 50 minutes. You may need to lower and raise the heat occasionally if the simmer becomes too aggressive. Be careful to not allow the liquid to boil; the chicken will likely toughen and the coconut milk curdle. Taste for salt, and add more if necessary.
• 6. Add the additional 1 cup coconut milk and allow it to heat through and begin to take in the flavors of the curry, about 2 minutes. This additional coconut milk enriches this rich dish even more. If there is too much oil floating on the surface of the curry for your taste, feel free to skim some of it off, but by all means not all of it - it's intensely flavorful. Taste for salt once more.
• 7. Transfer the chicken and sauce to a low serving bowl; you may remove the cinnamon, tied lemongrass, and kaffir lime and daun salam leaves, if you like, or leave them in the bowl to continue to season the dish. Allow the dish to rest and cool at room temperature for at least 20 minutes before eating, which will give the flavors time to blend and intensify.

CREAMY CHICKEN (OR PRAWN) CURRY

Steps:

• Cook chicken in a hot pan coated with cooking spray till brown and tender. (If using prawns, you can stirfry them at this point till they turn pink, or you can wait till the end and just cook them in the sauce for a few minutes.) Remove from the pan and keep warm.
• Saute the garlic, curry powder, carrots, onion and capsicum for 4 - 5 minutes.
• Combine cornflour and water in a small bowl.
• Turn the heat way down low and stir in the milk, stock and cornflour/water mixture. Stir until sauce thickens. Return chicken to the pan and coat with the curry sauce.
• Serve over rice.
• NOTE: After a review stating this was "bland" I realised that Keen's Curry Powder (available in Australia) may be quite different from brands available overseas. Keen's brand curry powder has a fairly high salt content. You may need to add salt to this recipe if your curry powder is low in salt.