Kitchen by TILAH

Tilah's Chicken Kurma (Kurma Ayam Tilah)


Hello fellow Cooks!  How was your day yesterday?  My day was good because it was a sunny day! So sunny that I had to squint my eyes while walking on my way to lunch with a colleague yesterday.  It's a nice change after a few days of heavy rain.
  


Tuesday evening I cooked a chicken dish.  There were nothing left in my freezer except for my favourites, chicken and chicken.  No fish, no beef.  So I decided to cook chicken kurma, the indian green curry.  This is my own version of the recipe which I am going to share.  



Of late, my pictures have not been propped.  As usual, I cook in the evenings after I get back home from work and  I usually have to chop-chop with the cooking and rush with the photo taking (which would by then be night time) because Suhaym, my younger one would want me to carry him or just be near him once I am home.  I try not to hold him before I get my cooking done as I would be too lazy to start cooking once I have relaxed and played with him.  I think all mothers can relate to this.  Then the next morning, I gotta rush off to work so I only get to take daylight pictures during weekends.



I even had in mind to get nice props for my pictures taking session but haven't really had the time to go out on a proper hunt.  Even if I did manage to get them, I don't think I have the liberty of spending my time to set things up for picture taking.  Perhaps I should just wait a few more years till my baby is more able to "set me free"!  Hehe... ;p  Not that I am a professional at taking photographs anyway but props always make it a little bit more pleasant and add more ambience to the pictures.



Nevertheless, I hope all that I have here, is good enough.  So, I hope the pictures as they are, would tempt you enough to make you try the recipes. 





Let's get to the ingredients:

1 whole chicken cut into pieces or 10-12 pieces of chicken parts - cleaned (I used a packet of 12 pieces of frozen drumsticks)
4 potatoes - peeled and cut into fours
1 large onion - finely sliced
2 pieces star anises
3 pieces cardamoms
4 pieces cloves
2-3 cm cinnamon
3 tomatoes - cut into fours
3 stalks green chillies - slit into halves and cut into twos
1/2 a can of full cream evaporated milk - you can substitute with low fat, if you prefer
3 tablespoons of full cream yogurt - you can substitute with low fat, if you prefer
a handful of fried shallots - you can buy readily packed from any supermarkets or provision stores
a small bunch of coriander leaves - chopped
2-3 bowls of water
1 teaspoon of sugar (or Ajinamoto, if you prefer)
1 lime - juice extracted
salt to taste

(ground into a paste with a little bit of water)  - this can be optional though it is a must for me
2 tablespoons of cashew nuts

(mixed into a paste with a little bit of water)
2 tablespoons of kurma powder (I used Malabar Masala brand - it's my favourite, but this is not a Malabar Masala advertisement so you can use any other brands of choice)

(**items to blended in a food processor)
2 large onions**
6 garlics**
2 cm ginger**


Method:


1.  Heat oil in pan and add cardamoms, cinnamon, cloves and star anises.  Saute for a few seconds.


2.  Add in the finely sliced onions and saute until withered.


3.  Add in the blended ingredients and saute for about two minutes.


4.  Add in the kurma powder paste and saute.


5.  Saute until fragrant or until you see the oil collecting on the surface of your sauteing mix.  This may take a while and it is totally okay.  In fact, it is better.  Take as long as you want.  Go for a stroll in the park hehe...kidding lah!  It is important that your mix is properly cooked to avoid the herbal raw taste.  Once you see oil on the surface, your mix is ready for the next step of the cooking process.


6.  Add in two bowls of water for now.  Stir. 


7.  Add in sugar (or Ajinamoto) and salt to taste.  Stir.  Bring to a boil. 


8.  Now add in the potatoes, the evaporated milk and yogurt.


9.  Give a stir.  During the cooking process hereforth, if you find that your gravy gets too thick for you, you may add in more water bit by bit.


10.  Add in the chicken pieces.  Fold them in.  Cover your wok or pot for ten minutes.  Lift up the cover every now and then to give a stir for a few seconds.


11.  After ten minutes, add in the cashew nut paste.  Give a stir.  Cover the wok or pot again for another five minutes.


12.  After five minutes, add in the green chillies.  Fold them in and cover the wok or pot again for another ten to fifteen minutes (or until your potatoes and chicken pieces are cooked).  Again, lift up the cover every now and then to stir for a few seconds. 


13.  Take off cover. Once chicken are cooked, add in the tomatoes.  Stir them in.  Simmer for a minute or two. Do a taste check. Off fire.


14.  Add in the extracted lime juice.  Add in the chopped coriander leaves.  Stir them in.


15.  Add in the fried shallots.  Stir them in.


16.  Ready to be served.

Enjoy with any kinds of rice or white bread.  Happy Kitchen-ing!

Comments

Anonymous said…
My comments are:

1) you are a malay, why is your blog in english? sedarlah diri tu sikit. orang melayukan?

2) macamlah pandai sangat masak nak berblog2 lah pulak. Blog pakar masak dah banyak dah, tak yah nak sibuk2! Belum tahu sedap pun...

3) blog masak dok citer pasal anak lah, suami lah, macam lah orang sibuk nak tahu pasal awak!
Tilah Maricar said…
Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for coming to my blog. In reply to your above questions, as follows:-

1) As some of my visitors are from various countries whom I am sure are not Malay literate, but would love to cook Asian food, I think I am being very helpful in using the English language.

2) Sedap tak sedap is up to those who have tried the recipes to judge.

3) Nampak sah awak sibuk baca blog saya. Anyway, thank you for reading my blog and leaving your comments. I will take all comments, good or bad in stride.

4) Senang-senang datanglah lagi!

Lots of Love, :)

Tilah's Kitchen

Anonymous said…
Salam Cik Tilah,

Gambar tak cantik tak menjadi soal! Resepi mesti sedap. Saya dah cuba resepi ayam kurma ni dengan resepi telur masak lemak dal dan sambal tumis Cik Tilah. Memang hebat lagi terangkat. Bertubi-tubi pujian dari suami. Terima kasih sekali lagi kerana berkongsi. Teruskan usaha dan perjuangan Cik Tilah terutama sekali untuk kaum isteri yang suka memasak untuk keluarga.

Jangan peduli dengan kata-kata orang yang berhasad dengki. Ya lah, kalau tak faham bahasa inggeris atau apa-apa tentang resepi-resepi di blog ni, comment form kan ada untuk digunakan. Tanya lah apa yang nak di tanya. Tak payah nak kurang sopan.

Tahniah dari saya atas usaha Cik Tilah. Memang power lah...
Anonymous said…
Sorry Cik Tilah, lupa nak letak nama saya kat komen atas tu. Sharifah.
Tilah Maricar said…
Salam Sharifah.

Terima kasih yang tak terhingga di atas kata-kata perangsang. Saya sungguh terharu. Alhamdulillah.

Terima kasih juga kerana sudi mencuba resepi dari blog ini dan sudi merujuk pada resepi-resepi yang telah saya sediakan. Saya sangat gembira.

Sudilah untuk sering bertamu di blog saya ini. In Sha Allah, saya akan membuat yang terbaik supaya semua kaum wanita yang sudah berumahtangga mahupun yang belum berkahwin dapat meraih manfaat dari blog ini.

Terima Kasih sekali lagi. Enjoy your time here and Happy Kitchen-ing!!

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