Cooking Mama: Fried Chicken Curry

24 March 2015

This is a Cooking Mama post. But before that, lemme share this story.

I have stomach problems. Acid reflux. GERD. Basta, I have tummy booboos.

I remember that whenever I was pregnant, I'd get this burning pain right in the middle of my chest. Right below the cleavage and just above my very preggy belly. It felt like there was a huge hook that was pulling my entire rib cage out of my body through that one area. It made me throw up everything I ate. Nothing stayed down at all. And when I've thrown up everything I had eaten for that day, it made me puke my guts out.

I was not allowed to drink coffee (which almost killed me). Okay, I exaggerate. I had ginger tea. Yaya would boil fresh ginger and I'd have it before I sleep. Until I discovered this ready made salabat like instant coffee. Just add hot water. So I had that. And then when that was not available from my supplier and yaya left us, I bought this ginger powder from the supermarket. Salabat is ginger, right? Wrong.

When I tried drinking the ginger powder, it tasted like shit! Sorry. I mean, like tinola! Not at all like salabat! When I asked my officemates what that was, they said it's for arroz valenciana and/or curry. It smelled like curry! So maybe it was curry powder!

Since I had a lot of ginger powder, I made Chicken Curry. With a twist.

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp. Oil/Butter
3 pcs. Potatoes, peeled (or not), quartered
2 pcs. Carrots
1 lb. Chicken, cut into serving pieces (Thigh or Breast part)
3 cloves Garlic, minced
1 large Onion, quartered
1 tbsp Patis
3 tbsp Curry Powder (hah!)
Salt & Pepper
1 c Chicken Broth
1 pc. Red Bell Pepper, cut into squares
1 pc. Green Bell Pepper, cut into squares

2 packs Powdered Coconut Milk or
1 c Coconut Milk

To cook:

1. Pan fry potatoes and carrots using butter. Add a little salt & pepper. Set aside.

2. In the same pan, fry chicken pieces and brown a little.
3. Add garlic and onion. Saute for a few minutes until soft.
4. Pour in patis and season with curry powder, salt & pepper. Stir for 2 minutes.
5. Add chicken broth. Cover and bring to a boil.
6. Lower the heat. Add bell peppers, potatoes and carrots.
7. Simmer until half done.
8. Add coconut milk. (Dissolve 2 packs of coco milk powder in 1 cup of water.) Stir occasionally.
9. Cook for a few more minutes while stirring.
10. Serve and enjoy!