Singapore Style Chicken Korma

(serves 3)
Every place has its own way to prepare Korma but its features are universal. The curry is always cooked using almonds and/or cashew nuts as its base flavour, it is always light couloured and it is always mild. This last characteristic makes Korma the go to curry for anyone who are not into spicy food, and children. The Singapore method uses evaporated milk instead of yogurt or coconut milk to marinate the meat and this creates a distinct texture and taste unique to this method of preparation.

Ingredients

1. Chicken Thighs (4, deboned)
2. Shallots (4)
3. Ginger (1 thumb)
4. Evaporated Milk (100 ml)
5. Coconut Milk (150 ml)
6. Almond Flour
7. Curry Powder
8. Cumin
9. Chicken Cube (1)
10. Cashew Nuts (50g)

Preparation (4-6 hours ahead)

1. Place the chicken into a bowl or plastic container and sprinkle in 2 heaped T of curry powder. Evenly coat each piece of chicken. Add 100 ml of evaporated milk, and mix well. Cover and leave in the fridge for a minimum of four hours.

  

Preparation

1. Peel and cut each shallot in half. Julienne the shallots.
2. Peel the ginger and cut first into slices 2mm thick. Next slice into strips and then finally cubes.
3. Put 3T of oil in a large pan and add the sliced shallots and diced ginger. Pan fry until the shallots start to brown. Transfer the contents to a plate temporarily.
4. Dissolve 1 chicken cube in 1 cup of water. Add the resulting chicken stock to the chicken and move the chicken about to wash off the marinade. Drain the chicken in a strainer over the container as shown above.
5. Using the same pan, heat up 1 T of oil and pan fry the chicken. Start with a sizzling hot pan and fry the chicken skin side down for 2 minutes. Flip the chicken, turn the heat down and pan fry for a further 2 minutes.
6. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board to cool.
7. Pour the diluted marinade into the pan and return the shallots and ginger to the pan.
8. Bring the pan to a simmer and sprinkle in 4T almond flour and 1T cumin. Stir until there are no clumps and leave on a simmer.
9. By now the chicken should have cooled enough to touch. Cut each chicken thigh into about six pieces. Return the chicken together with any drippings back into the pan.
10. Add 150 ml coconut milk, 50 g (1/4 cup) of roasted cashew nuts and 1t of sugar. Cover and simmer for an additional 10 minutes.
11. Check if you wish to add salt before serving. Chop up 1 sprig of coriander and use it as a garnish.

Notes

• In case you are wondering what is curry powder, you can refer to the ingredients listed on the package of curry powder on the right. Curry powder is the base for making curries. It is not the same as Garam Masala, which is just a seasoning.
• If you’ll be making other dishes, you can prepare your korma ahead of time and just reheat to serve. It doesn’t taste any better if freshly made.
• The thicker parts of a chicken thigh will not be cooked from 4 minutes of pan frying, especially without a drop lid. That’s fine, simmering in the curry will finish the job. The idea is to caramelize the chicken and extract the oil and flavour from the skin.
• I find cutting the chicken using a pair of kitchen scissors easier than using a knife.
• Though its not part of the recipe, you should serve your korma with steamed rice or some kind of Indian bread. 

 

Basic Mild Lamb Curry

(serves 4)
In winter curry is a really nice hearty food that warms you up. This is a great basic Southern Indian curry recipe suitable for most palates and ideal for those cooking curry for the first time. It is mild in two ways. The grassy flavour of mutton is greatly reduced and so people who don’t like the taste of lamb may find it actually quite nice. It is also not very spicy, so those who don’t fancy spicy foods might still find it acceptable.  

Ingredients

1. Lamb Belly (500g)
2. Potato (2 Large)
3. Carrot  (1)
4. Onion (1)
5. Shallots (4)
6. Coconut Milk (1 Cup)
7. Curry Powder
8. Caraway Seeds
9. Cumin
10. Turmeric
11. Vegetable Cube

Preparation

1. Cut the lamb into one inch cubes. Trim off any obvious large layers of fat. It’s easiest to do this when the meat is semi-frozen, but warm to room temperature using water before proceeding with the next step.
2. Place the lamb pieces in a pot and pour in boiling water from a kettle until the water level is a inch above the meat. Stir, wait 5 minutes, and pour the water away.
3. Take the meat out of the pot and dry the pot over the stove.
4. Peel and julienne 4 shallots. Using a low flame, pan fry the shallot slices in 4T of oil.
5. When the shallot begins to brown add 4T Curry Powder and 2T Cumin to the pot and stir fry. Add water a bit at a time until you end up with a watery paste.    
6. Add 5 cups of water. When this comes to a boil, add the lamb belly pieces followed by 1t turmeric, 1t caraway seeds, 1 vegetable cube, 2t sugar and 2t salt.
7. Cover the pot and keep it on a low simmer for 45 minutes. 
8. In the meanwhile, peel and cut the carrots into half inch thick discs and the onion into twelve wedges. Peel and cut each potato in 4. Dice one of the quarters into tiny cubes (you want them to disintegrate).
9. After the 45 minutes is up, add the vegetables and 1 cup of coconut milk and simmer for a further 30 minutes. Boil uncovered and use this period to manage the thickness of curry to what you prefer.
10. This curry can be prepared ahead of time and reheated for serving. Depending on the curry powder you may need to add more salt. Remember to taste before serving. 

Notes

• Your curry is ideally served with rice, which you will also have to cook. A long grained rice is ideal, like Indian Basmati or Thai Jasmine rice. Any kind of sturdy bread, like Paratha, Naan, or even French Baguette would be an alternative staple.
• In case you are wondering what kind of curry powder to buy, you can refer to the contents of the curry powder I use pictured above. Once you examine what curry powder is made of, you’ll realize that the addition of 2T of cumin in the recipe serves to dilute the overall amount of chili, thus making the curry less spicy.
• The coconut milk also makes the curry less spicy, so if you want a more spicy curry, use only half a cup of coconut milk.
• If you are the type who wants the full flavour of lamb, skip step 2 whose purpose is to reduce the grassy overtones of the lamb. You can also use a lamb stock cube instead of a vegetable stock cube. As for myself, I usually use 1T of red miso in place of the vegetable cube. This really enhances the taste of the whole dish.
• This recipe can easily adapted to make chicken curry. Leave out the caraway seeds and use a chicken cube instead. Chicken doesn’t need to be cooked for that long so skip the entire 45 minute simmer and add the chicken pieces together with the vegetables in step 9.
• If you want a more northern taste to your curry, use plain yogurt in place of coconut milk and cherry tomatoes in place of the carrots.

 

Beef Curry Sweet Potato Korokke

(makes 12)
Korokke, the Japanese version of the croquette, are big in Japan. Unlike the original French version they contain meat and vegetables and come in all kinds of flavours. The other special thing about Japanese Korokke is they are rarely used as side dishes and are typically eaten as a street food type snack,  or even as a meal.  Beef curry is probably one of the more unique flavours and well worth trying.

Ingredients

1. Minced Beef (200g)
2. Sweet Potatoes (500g)
3. Onion (1)
4. Cream Cheese (125g)
5. Eggs (3)
6. Bread (3 slices)
7. Curry Powder
8. Corn Starch
9. Worcestershire Sauce
10. Mirin
11. Nutmeg
12. Paprika

Preparation

1. Leave three slices of bread without any wrapping in the fridge overnight.
2. Boil 500g of sweet potatoes for 25 minutes.  Use just enough water to cover the sweet potatoes and reserve the flavoured water after boiling.
3. Drain away the water into a container for later use and allow the sweet potatoes to cool in the pot. Then peel, dice and finally mash the sweet potatoes with a fork. There is no need to completely pulverize the sweet potato, you want a bit of texture.
4. Pour 1/4 cup of the reserved water into a bowl. Stir in 2T curry powder, 1T mirin, 1t worcestershire sauce, 1t nutmeg, 1t salt. Marinate 200g of minced beef in the mixture for 15 minutes.
5. Peel and dice one onion into 1cm sized pieces. In a few T of oil, pan fry the onion bits until they are limp, but before they brown too much. Add the beef and stir fry until the beef is cooked.
6. With the fire still going, make a hole in the middle of the pan and add 125g (about 4T) of cream cheese. Spoon in a few T of the reserved water and move a spatula over the cream cheese in a circular motion until it has liquified (see picture).
7. Add the mashed sweet potato and mix everything together well. Turn off the heat and allow to cool. Keep the ‘filling’ in the fridge for a minimum of several hours.
8. Cut the dried bread into croutons and desiccate further in a toaster oven at 120^oC for 15 minutes. If you don’t have a toaster oven, toast before dicing the bread.
9. Place the croutons on a piece of foil and methodically crush with the jagged face of a meat mallet. There is no need to hammer; simply press down firmly on the smooth face of the mallet head (see picture). Again, there is no need to completely pulverize the bread, you want some variety in crumb size.
10. Prepare three shallow dishes, one with the bread crumbs, one with 1/4 cup of corn starch and in the third one beat 3 eggs with 1/2t of salt.
11. Warm up oil in a pot for deep frying. The temperature is right when a bread crumb thrown in creates bubbles.
12. Spoon an amount of filling equal in size to an XL egg into your hand. Shape this into a log. Roll the log first in the cornstarch to get a thick coating of starch, then quickly in the egg. Finally roll the log in the bread crumbs. Immediately deep fry. Repeat until all the mashed sweet potato is used up. As the insides are already cooked, you can adjust the heat as you like to produce a nice deep orange finish for your Korokke.
13. Roll the croquettes while cooking occasionally to ensure even cooking. When a croquette is done, place it on a bed of paper towels to absorb excess oil.
14. Serve your croquettes with a mayonnaise flavoured with paprika.

Notes

• If you leave your bread to dry in the fridge for several days, you can skip the toasting part and crush right after cutting into croutons.
• Cumin is not curry powder, it is not even the biggest component of curry powder. If you wish to mix your own, you can use the labelling on this package curry powder as a guide to the proportions of each ingredient.
• When coating the croquettes you can cover the ends by pushing the material up against the top and bottom of the log. This will reduce the handling of the croquettes and help them keep their shape.
• Yes I used sweet potato instead of potato. It is not uncommon to use something other than potato for Korokke in Japan, for instance yam, pumpkin or taro.
• If you want your Korokke to look exactly like the real McCoy you have to buy something called Panko Crumbs instead of crushing your own breadcrumbs. They are leafy crumbs which allows them to be bigger than regular crumbs.
• Steps 12-13 are best done by a two person team.
• The croquettes will continue to brown a bit after you remove them from the oil, so don’t over brown them.
• If want to make the shape perfect, you can roll your filling in cling film into (4?) long sausages. Place the sausages in the freezer for 15 minutes to harden them further before frying, but don’t completely freeze them solid. If you want it fast and easy, you can also make your croquettes in the shape of mini hamburgers.

 

Singapore Chinese Pork Curry

(serves 6)
Singapore Chinese Curry is a culinary relic of the British colonial era in Singapore. Many of the British officers had previously been stationed in India and developed a taste for curry. The British Army in Singapore however had to rely on Chinese cooks who out of neccesity concocted their own curry recipes. The result was the unique Singapore Chinese Curry which contains many common items of South-east Asian cuisine. In such curries you’ll find strange ingredients such as pork, dried shrimp, bean curd and cabbage. If you are a fan of curry, this is definitely a novel curry variety you must try.  Ingredients

1. Pork Spare Ribs (1 kg)
2. Yeo’s Minced Prawns in Spices (2 x 140g cans)
3. Cabbage (1 small head)
4. Firm Tofu (2 standard blocks)
5. Fried Bean Curd Puffs (2 cups)
6. Fishcake or Fishballs (200g)
7. Glass Vermicelli (50g dry weight)
8. Coconut Milk (300ml)
9. Chinese Wine
10. Five Spice Powder
11. Cumin
12. Chicken Stock Cubes (2)

Preparation

1. Begin by pressing the tofu as explained here. You cannot use soft tofu as it will completely disintegrate and disappear.
2. Open two cans of minced prawns in spices into a large pot. Add 1kg of raw pork ribs and allow to marinate for at least an hour.
3. Dissolve 2 chicken stock cubes and 1 t sugar in 2 cups of hot water. Add the stock, coconut milk and fish balls/cake to the pot and heat to a low simmer.
4. Sprinkle in 1T of five spice powder and 1T of cumin and simmer for 90 minutes. Top up with water as necessary.
5. Cut your cabbage into quadrants and manually break the quadrants into individual leaves. Cut the pressed tofu into large cubes, about 8 per block.
6. Add the cabbage, fried bean curd puffs and pressed tofu cubes and simmer for about 15 minutes before turning off the heat.
7. Before serving, soak the vermicelli in cold water for 7 minutes and then drain away the water. Bring the pot of curry to a simmer again add the vermicelli and 3T Chinese wine. Simmer for 10 minutes before serving.
8. This dish is best served with steamed rice or egg noodles.

Bean Curd Puffs and Dried Vermicelli

 Notes

• This recipe is pretty easy if you can get all the semi-prepared ingredients as they are listed. If not….
• The spiced minced prawn a.k.a. prawn sambal is a key ingredient but unfortunately its not that easy to find in some parts of the world. You can order Yeo’s Minced Prawn in Spices from Amazon. One other option is to make your own. If you have access to a Chinese food store, buy some dried shrimp. Soak a cup of the shrimp in cold water for half an hour before mixing in half a chopped onion, 4T chili paste, 2T Oil, 1T Five Spice Powder and 1t sugar. Put the mixture in the blender for a few seconds and then finish off by frying in a pan.   
• The other uncommon ingredient is fried bean curd (aka tofu) puffs, also known as Tau Pok in some Asian countries. If you can’t find any bean curd puffs in your local supermarket, you can
  

  Yeo’s Minced Prawns in Spices

  make some yourself. Freeze then defrost 2 blocks of silken (i.e. not firm) tofu. Next dry and cube the resulting spongy tofu and then deep fry them as you would French fries.

• Take note that the vermicelli to be used is the glass type (white when raw and transparent when cooked) which doesn’t get mushy even if it is cooked for quite a while. When in doubt, the ones to get are those made in Thailand.
• Sometimes I also add some baby corn. Its a very flexible dish so experiment with any extra ingredients you fancy.
• There is another similar style of Singapore curry known as Nonya Curry. That is a fusion of Chinese and Malay cuisine while this is a fusion of Chinese and Indian cuisine. The two should not be confused. 

 

 

Chicken Nasi Briyani

(serves 3)
Biryani is an aromatic rice dish that originates from India and is one of the most popular rice dishes in Singapore and Malaysia, where it is known as known as Nasi Briyani. Regardless of whether spelt ‘Bir’ or ‘Bri’, you first cook meat curry and rice separately and then again together. In this version of Nasi Briyani, I employ the fried rice method for the together part. This way the rice is moist on the outside, yet remains fluffy on the inside. The perfect comfort food.    

Ingredients

1. Curry Sauce (1.25 cups)
2. Meat from the Curry (1 cup)
3. Raw Basmati Rice (3/4 cup)
4. Coriander (1 cup, chopped)
5. Ginger (2 inches)
6. Turmeric
7. Cardamom
8. Cloves (6)
9. Raisins (1 small box)
10. Coriander Seed Powder
11. Cherry Tomatoes (4 – 6)

Pre-Preparation (Curry) 

1. You will first need to prepare some curry ahead of time, for instance my Singapore Curry Chicken recipe. Besides chicken curry, the other type of curry typically used in Briyani is lamb curry.  You can also just use some takeout or leftover curry from a restaurant.
2. I find the Southern curries work best. Many Nothern Indian curries are unsuitable because they use yoghurt as an ingredient. Also in the north they have a habit of cooking the curry and the meat (in a tandoori oven) separately.
3. You’ll need to skim 5T of chili oil from the top of your chicken curry and keep this in reserve. Add oil to the curry when you are cooking it or reheating it if it doesn’t have enough oil. Needless to say, you shouldn’t use skinless chicken.
4. Cut into chunks the equivalent of 2 chicken legs from the curry. Also measure 1.25 cups of curry sauce and pour this over the shredded meat. Use only the meat and sauce, and leave out all the other stuff in the curry like the potatoes if there are any.

Pre-Preparation (Rice)

1. You will also need to boil some turmeric flavoured rice, also ahead of time. If you don’t know how boil rice, refer to my White Rice Page.
2. Start with 3/4 cup of raw rice rice. You should use Basmati rice, and if you really can’t find any, at least make sure you use a long grain variety –  you don’t want the whole thing to turn to mush.
3. After you have rinsed the rice and before you start cooking it (e.g. in a rice cooker), add 1/2 t of turmeric and 6 cloves to the water. The turmeric is what makes the rice yellow.
4. After the rice is cooked, allow it to cool in the open for an hour so it dries up. Alternatively you can just use a bit less water than usual so the rice is slightly hard.

Preparation

1. Julienne your coriander in two portions. Cut the bottom one third (i.e. the stem part) of the coriander first. Then do the rest (i.e. the leafy part) and keep them seperate.
2. Remove the skin from a two inch long piece of ginger root.  Cut the ginger lengthwise into long strips, as fine as you can possibly manage. Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves or quarters depending on their size.
3. In a large non-stick pan, heat up the chili oil you skimmed earlier. Pan fry the coriander stems, ginger on high heat till there is a strong aroma of ginger coming from the pan.
4. Add the tomatoes and raisins to the pan. Stir fry for a further minute.
5. Add the turmeric rice to the pan. Break up the clumps by pressing down on them gently with a flat implement.  Sprinkle in 1/2 of cardamom and 1t of coriander seed powder over the rice. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes, until you see a bit of the rice browning.
6. Pour in the meat and curry. Continue to stir-fry to make sure every grain of rice comes into contact with the curry. When the curry begins to dry up, add most of the leafy coriander, and turn the heat down. Continue to fry for a further minute and then remove from the flame.
7. Taste and then sprinkle on salt to your satisfaction. Plate your Nasi Briyani and then garnish with the remaining coriander.

Notes

• This is the maximum amount you can cook at one go on a normal flat 12 inch pan. If you try to cook more, you won’t have enough of a cooking surface to dry the curry. If you want to do a double portion, use a paella pan, wok or something of similar size.
• Alternatively the traditional way to cook Briyani is to pour the curry over three quarters of your cooked rice, top up with the rest of the rice and reheat until the whole pot is dry.
• Some recipes also add cashew nuts. You can consider adding these together with the tomatoes and raisins.
• I find the best way to extract the chili oil from curry is to put it in the fridge to let the oil harden into lard.

 

Singapore Curry Chicken

(serves 4)
Singapore Curry is of the heavy meaty variety. It is medium in terms of spiciness and uses only a modest amount of coconut milk. This combination reflects the influence of Chinese cooking. My recipe is a fast way to make the curry, as it makes use of a canned curry sauce in combination with fresh meat and vegetables. It may sound like cheating but unless you want to spend days finding and then pounding, chopping, grinding dozens of uncommon ingredients, this is the best way. Besides, curry is one of those things which doesn’t get a metallic taste from being in a can.  

 

Ingredients

1. Chicken (800g)
2. Curry Gravy (2 x 400ml cans)
3. Potato (2)
4. Onion (1)
5. Cardamon
6. Cumin
7. Chicken Cube

Preparation

1. The first thing to do is pour a third of your curry gravy into a pot and place your chicken meat in. Then pour the rest of the curry sauce over the chicken and allow it to marinate for at least an hour, but overnight for best results. I normally use dark meat but white meat will do as well.
2. This recipe has this particular Curry Gravy in mind, but you can use another brand to your liking if you wish.
3. While the chicken is marinating, peel your potatoes. These must be of a variety that is yellow inside. Cut them into pieces the size of half a kiwi fruit. Place them in a large bowl and pour boiling water in, followed by 2 minutes of microwave on high (or you can also just boil them in a pot for 5 minutes if you want).
4. Cut the onion into 8 equal wedges.
5. In a cup of hot water, smash a chicken cube. Stir in 1t of cardamon, 4t of cumin and 1t of sugar.
6. When you chicken is done marinating, put it on a low simmer uncovered and add the cup of stock, and the onions and potatoes. You won’t have to stir that much at the beginning but after the onion falls to pieces, it will tend to get stuck at the bottom of the pot, then you’ll need to stir more often.
7. Some of the surface of the potatos will disintegrate and you should end up with a thick flavoursome curry sauce. You shouldn’t need to add water but use your judgement. Cooking time is about 45 minutes, and a tell-tale sign of when it is done is when red oil from the chicken forms on the surface.

Notes

• This chicken curry is ideal for making Chicken Nasi Briyani which can be found in this recipe.
• This curry in my opinion is best served with rice, which is the way it is usually served in South-East Asian (and Japan for that matter). So prepare some ahead of time if you are in the habbit of cooking rice and possess a rice cooker.  
• As a second choice I would pick roti or naan, which is what you’d do in Indian. You can buy frozen ones at most supermarkets. 
•  As a last resort, french loaf is also an option, this is popular in Vietnam.

 

Singapore Curry Gravy

 

Yeo’s Singapore Curry Gravy is the best way to make a curry dish for novices to South Indian or Southeast Asian cooking.  I normally wouldn’t recommend a product by brand but in this case, I think an exception is warranted. Besides its wonderful flavour and thick wholesome texture, it has one other special culinary merit. Unlike other curries in a can, it contains no meat and very little coconut, so you can use it as a base to build your own curry dishes.  Add chicken, and its a chicken curry, add lamb and it becomes a mutton curry.  It is the de facto way to make curry for students from Singapore and Malaysia going overseas for higher education. You can use my Singapore Curry Chicken recipe as a reference for how easy cooking curry is with this curry sauce.

This curry gravy is not designed with the mass western consumer market  in mind and is as authentic as you can get without whipping up a batch from scratch. It contains all the essential ingredients like coriander seed powder, turmeric, chili, pepper but more importantly other harder to find ingredients like  aniseed and candlenut.  I would consider this a medium curry, not too spicy. You can add chillies or chilli powder to make it more spicy, or add coconut milk to make it less spicy.

Besides using it to make curries by adding adding meat and vegetables, you can also use this gravy on is own. Try it with various indian breads like Roti or Naan, on drained instant noodles without the soup, as a dip for hor d’oeuvres, or even blended into cream of vegetable soups.  

Notes

• Yeo’s Singapore Curry Gravy is not a rare specialty product, search on Google and you’ll get over a quater million hits. It comes in 250 ml and 400ml cans and is available at Amazon. com. I understand its available in Europe too, although it comes in a red can for some reason.