Recipe - Penaeng Kai (Penang Curry With Chicken)

PENAENG CURRY PASTE
25 (up to)
30 Dried red chillies; shake
them to discard the excess
seeds.
2 tablespoon Chopped shallots (purple
onions)
2 tablespoon Chopped garlic
2 tablespoon Very finely cut or sliced up lemon
grass
1 tablespoon Grated galangal (use ginger
if you can't find galangal)
1 teaspoon Toasted coriander seeds
2 tablespoon Chopped coriander root
1 tablespoon Kapi (shrimp paste)
2 tablespoon Chopped freshly roasted
peanuts.

THE CURRY
1 cup Chicken; cut into bite sized
pieces
One half cup Coconut milk
1 tablespoon Chopped garlic
2 (up to)
3 tablespoon The curry paste
2 tablespoon Fish sauce
Sugar to taste
2 Lime leaves; finely shredded
10 (up to)
15 Holy basil leaves; finely
shredded

Date: Sat, 24 Feb 1996 17:21:51 0500

From: The Meades kmeade@ids2.idsonline.com (by way of

From: "Colonel I. F. K. Philpott" colonel@korat1.vukorat.ac.th
Penaeng is a dry curry, probably originally "imported" from Malaysia. It
can be prepared with any meat, and many fishes. This variety uses chicken.

Penaeng Curry Paste: You can buy prepared curry pastes in many shops, but
for the full flavour you should seriously consider the little effort
involved in making your own. This was a back breaking chore when the pastes
were prepared in a heavy mortar and pestle, but these days you can come
very close to the same result using a food processor. You can reduce the
number of chillies used if you want a milder curry, but I don't recommend
going to less than 10 chillies.

Mix together to a fine paste in a food processor. This paste will keep
under refrigeration. You can also freeze it; I suggest placing it in an
old ice cube tray to make into curry paste cubes for ease of measurement
later.

The prepared paste should be allowed to mature for two or three days before
use to bring out the full flavour.

Note that it is better to make the paste milder than to use less than about
2 tablespoons in the final recipe.

The curry: Place a wok over medium high heat, and warm the coconut milk,
but don't let it boil. Add the curry paste, and stir it until the oil
begins to separate out and form a thin film to bring out the maximum
flavour. Add the remaining ingredients except the lime and basil leaves,
and simmer until the sauce is absorbed and thickened. Then add the leaves
and stir fry briefly before serving.

Garnish with julienned red chillies, with steamed white rice, and the usual
table condiments.

Note if you particularly like your curries hot, then replace the fish sauce
in the cooking with nam pla prik (chillies marinated in fish sauce), that
has had at least a week to mature.

CHILEHEADS DIGEST V2 #250

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