Dry Curry Chicken

Some funny quotes on food:

"Anything that walks, swims, crawls, or flies with its back to heaven is edible." - a cantonese saying; "My mother's menu consisted of two choices: Take it or leave it' - Buddy Hackett; "I didn't fight my way to the top of the food chain to be a vegetarian" - anon; "I do not like broccoli. And I haven't liked it since I was a little kid and my mother made me eat it. And I'm President of the United States and I'm not going to eat any more broccoli." - George Bush (1990).

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Yesterday, whilst accompanying my wife to a supermarket in Bukit Panjang, I was attracted to a bunch of lemon grass. I asked myself, what could we do with this? Instantly, "curry chicken" came to my mind. Instead of the traditional version, I thought it would be nice to cook the "dry version", which has a thicker gravy. So, I consulted my wife if she is game for curry tonight?

Refer to earlier posting for recipe on traditional curry chicken: (http://happyvalley-prof.blogspot.com/2007/08/weather.html )

We decided to cook a big pot so that we could share it with some church friends whom we are meeting this evening. So, the frenzy shopping starts: from the lemon grass, which sparked to curry inspiration, we bought fresh tumeric (yellow ginger), galangal (blue ginger), dried chilies from the same supermarket. For the chicken, we decided to drive to our favorite poutry stall in Bukit Batok, but alas when we reached there, it is already closed for the day. No choice, we went to the nearby NTUC supermarket to buy a pack of frozen chicken tighs (12 pieces). We visited another provision shop to pick up onions and potatoes. At another shop, I bought some buah keras and yet at another vegetable stall, we bought some fresh chilies.

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We went home happily thinking that we had all the ingredients for the curry (purchased from 5 different shops!). In the evening, I started preparing the cleaning & marinating the chicken, cutting the ingredients and pounding the ingredients. It would have been easier to use the blender, but I did it manually as I thought it would be a good way to relax and take my mind off my research. So, I spent a good time pounding away on the mortar.

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However, just when we were about to cook the curry, I realized that we ran out of the most important ingredient: aiyah, no more curry powder! So, another mad dash to a nearby supermarket to replenish.

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Below is a slide show of the preparation and cooking process: