Ayam Masak Merah (a Malay Red Chicken Curry)
Easy to follow ayam masak merah recipe, a fragrant Malay red curry from Singapore and Malaysia, chicken in a light tomato base with a touch of spice.
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 45 min
- Yield
- 6 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 1 kg chicken portions ((or use a whole chicken, cut up))
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp salt
- 60 ml vegetable oil (for frying the chicken)
- 1 tsp white sugar
- 1 lemongrass, (bottom half)
- 1 large onion
- 3 tbsp concentrated tomato paste ((sometimes called tomato purée in Asia))
- 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 250 ml water
- 2 handfuls frozen or fresh peas ((completely optional, I don't add them))
- 1 cinnamon stick, (medium)
- 1 star anise
- 3 clove 3 cloves
- 1 large onion
- 2 clove garlic
- 5 cm ginger
- 1 lemongrass, (bottom half)
- 1 tsp chilli paste (any generic one will do) (OR 1 fresh red chilli)
Instructions
- 1
Rub the chicken with the turmeric and 1 tsp of salt and set aside for about 15-20 minutes while you get everything else ready.
- 2
Chop the onion, slice the lemongrass into rings, and slice the ginger for easier chopping.
- 3
Place everything into a chopper and chop to a fairly fine paste, adding a Tbsp of water if necessary. Set aside.
- 4
Bruise the lemongrass by pounding down on its base with the back of your knife.
- 5
Slice the large onion into rings and set aside.
- 6
Heat the 60ml of oil on medium-high heat, in a large saucepan, with the tsp of sugar. Brown the chicken in batches. You only want to do this briefly, about a minute each side. We don't want to cook the chicken, just give it some colour. Place the browned chicken on kitchen paper lined plates.
- 7
We'll use the same saucepan. Pour out most of the oil, leaving about 2 Tbsp of still in the saucepan. On medium heat, and fry the cinnamon, cloves and star anise for about 30 seconds, don’t let them burn.
- 8
Add the ground paste and lemongrass and fry for about 2 minutes, stirring, until the aroma hits you. Scrape the base of the pan to incorporate all the sticky bits from the chicken earlier.
- 9
Add the tomato purée and ketchup and stir well.
- 10
Add the chicken, stirring to coat the meat with all that yummy tomato stuff. Add the water, stir and let it come to a boil.
- 11
Lower the heat right down and simmer, covered, until the chicken is cooked, about 30 – 45 minutes, depending on size and part. Meat on the bone, drumsticks and legs are going to take longer than boneless breast meat.
- 12
Five minutes before the end of cooking time, add the sliced onion rings, stir and leave to simmer. If the curry is too dry for you, add a little water, perhaps no more than 125ml (½ cup). You don't want to dilute the flavours in the curry. And be sure to check the salt.
- 13
When the chicken is cooked, add the peas (if you are using them), stir, check the seasoning and add more salt if you think it needs it. Turn the heat off.