Curry Kapitan

A thick spicy chicken curry dish, broadly influenced in its spicing, Curry Kapitan conjures up some of the cosmopolitan atmosphere of old Malacca and recalls the traditional role of the 'Kapitan China' as the functionary who stood between the Malay Rulers and the Chinese communities. The 'KAPITAN' would have been a man of standing among both Malays and his own Chinese people and would have had considerable social mobility. 'Curry Kapitan' reflects this in culinary terms.

Beside serving as a main dish with rice, this dish is also nice to serve with Roti Jala or with bread. You can reduce the chillies according to your requirement.

Ingredients:

• 1 kg chicken, cut into pieces
• 1 cup coconut milk

(A)

• 5 dried red chillies
• 4 fresh red chillies
• 6 shallots
• 3 cloves garlic
• 3 cradlenuts (buah keras)

(B)

• 2 stalks lemon grass (serai)
• 1/2 tsp turmeric (kunyit) powder

Seasoning:

• salt to taste
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 lemon, squeeze out juice

Method:

Grind (A). Marinate chicken with 1 tbsp ground ingredients (A) and 1 tbsp coconut milk.

Heat 2-3 tbsp oil in wok. Stir-fry remaining ingredients (A) and add in (B). Add marinated chicken pieces and mix well. Add in coconut milk and simmer curry over low heat. keep on stirring. When chicken is cooked and gravy is thick, add in seasoning.