Making a Chinese curry

Have you ever wanted to make a Chinese curry from scratch? This recipe is simple and easy to make as well as being full of flavour.

A little while ago it was National Curry Week. I had at the back of my mind that I would make a curry to celebrate the occasion, but then got distracted and the thought went out of my mind. Tilda rice then kindly sent me some rice to inspire me to make a curry and I finally got around to making one. Curry is not something that I would naturally cook, to be honest I tend to rely on jars of sauce or curry paste as they make a quick and tasty curry. My home made curry can be hit and miss, it is not always easy to get the amount of spice correct. I decided to try something different and make a Chinese curry.

The story behind this Chinese curry

My husband loves Chinese curry. Whenever we splash out on a Chinese takeaway he will usually order one. The taste is different to an Indian curry, more fragrant and less spicy. I wondered if it would be easy to recreate the taste of a Chinese curry at home. Searching on line I came across a recipe for Chinese curry that is apparently in The People’s Cookbook. It has a bit of a story behind it, which I loved. The recipe was invented by Lily Kwok who left Hong Kong to travel to England by sea. The journey took three months and Lily would collect spices from each port she stopped at. When she reached England she perfected this curry which became a big favourite with friends and neighbours. Eventually she opened a restaurant.

I modified the recipe slightly when making it, the result was delicious and it is definitely a recipe I would make again. It did take a bit of preparation; the sauce needs to be made first and takes quite a bit of time to make. It would be possible to make a big batch of sauce in advance and keep it in the fridge until you wanted to make the curry. Next time I make it I think I will make double the amount of sauce and freeze half.

I served the curry with Tilda Basmati rice. I would normally use Basmati rice with an Indian curry but it works just as well with a Chinese curry and soaked up the sauce nicely. The family loved the meal, my husband said it was exactly like a good Chinese curry. My son thought it was a little spicy, but he managed to clear his plate so obviously enjoyed it. It was also quite quick and simple to make once the sauce was ready.

Chinese Curry Recipe

Chinese Curry Recipe

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Ingredients

• Sauce
• 9 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 5 onions
• 6 cm ginger root
• 5 garlic cloves
• 3 red chillies
• 2 green chillies
• 1 tsp tumeric
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 5 tsp curry powder
• 250 ml water
• 5 tsp plain flour
• 5 tsp self raising flour
• 600 ml chicken stock
• Curry
• 3-4 tbsp cornflour
• 4 chicken breasts
• 4 tbsp oil
• 1 onion
• 3 tbsp peas

Instructions

• To make the sauce peel and chop the onion and garlic. Grate the ginger root and seed and chop the chillies.
• Add the oil to the pan.
• Add the onion and fry until the onion starts to soften
• Add the ginger, garlic and chillies and fry on a low heat until the onion is soft.
• Add the spices and cook gently for a few minutes. Remove from heat.
• Add the water to a food processor then add the onion mixture.
• Blend until smooth and then add the flour and blend.
• Place the mixture back in the pan and simmer over a low heat until it darkens
• Add the chicken stock and simmer until reduced into a thick sauce.
• Chop the chicken into pieces and coat in cornflour.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the chicken until it is white
• Add the onion and peas and cook for a couple of minutes.
• Add the sauce and heat until hot

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If you like curries with a difference have a look at my Caribbean one pot chicken curry which is really easy to make and very tasty.