2011 Cooking club Week 5: Malaysian Chicken/Beef Curry

Curry Addict · 19-11-2011 9:57pm

if u cut the beef very thin it cooks ok in the 10mins or so it takes to cook this curry. ive never tried cooking this curry for hours so duno how it will turn out. u will probably have to add water a few times to keep the pan hydrated. the flavors should be grand if you keep it in the fridge..

hope your experiment works out!

pts · 29-11-2011 10:33am

Made it last night, I didn't use fish sauce though (just added some chicken stock cube instead) and didn't have palm sugar so I used brown sugar.
I blended the lemongrass sticks using my hand blender, but I'm still not mad about the texture. Next time I think I'll add them while cooking and remove before serving.

I'm really please with the result though. I really love the creamy sweetness contrasted with the earthy spices. Thanks OP!

Apologies for the crappy photo, I had to use my phone camera as I don't have a normal one (must ask Santa for one

).

Curry Addict · 30-11-2011 4:28pm

that looks spot on, perfect consistancy

with the lemongrass, maybe bash open the stems with a pestle and put them in whole, so you can remove them later easily and they should still infuse their flavor.

Little Alex · 01-12-2011 1:47am

nice1franko wrote: »

Only got around to this tonight. It was really good. Black cardamom were a new one to me. They're lovely.

I just found some myself and I'm going to make this again soon.

Is it is only me or do the black cardamoms taste and smell somewhat like Dettol? :eek: :pac:

Kenny_D · 01-12-2011 12:01pm

Have a craving for this again. Think I'll make some up over the weekend to warm me up

pts · 06-12-2011 2:40pm

Curry Addict wrote: »

that looks spot on, perfect consistancy

with the lemongrass, maybe bash open the stems with a pestle and put them in whole, so you can remove them later easily and they should still infuse their flavor.

I made it again, this time with bashed lemongrass. It turned out even better than the first time. Thanks again OP!

Goose81 · 13-12-2011 9:15pm

Made this tonight, tasted it before the palm sugar was added and it was beautiful but after the palm sugar was added it was disgustingly sweet.

No one else find this?

Curry Addict · 14-12-2011 10:22am

Goose81 wrote: »

Made this tonight, tasted it before the palm sugar was added and it was beautiful but after the palm sugar was added it was disgustingly sweet.

No one else find this?

i have an aversion to sweet dishes. It should be just a touch sweet but certainly not sickly. pity it ruined it on you. hard to say why it was too sweet for you but a number of things could contribute like using less coconut milk or stock than stated in the recipe.

Goose81 · 14-12-2011 9:36pm

Curry Addict wrote: »

i have an aversion to sweet dishes. It should be just a touch sweet but certainly not sickly. pity it ruined it on you. hard to say why it was too sweet for you but a number of things could contribute like using less coconut milk or stock than stated in the recipe.

I followed the recipe to the letter, I will say when I saw 2 tablespoons of palm sugar I did question whether it should have read tea spoons because it seemed like an awful lot?

(maybe I was just very sensitive to the sweetness)

It was very nice before the palm was added though and will definitely be making it again.

Mr Magnolia · 14-12-2011 9:44pm

Was your palm sugar granulated or large solid lumps?

Curry Addict · 15-12-2011 3:39pm

Goose81 wrote: »

I followed the recipe to the letter, I will say when I saw 2 tablespoons of palm sugar I did question whether it should have read tea spoons because it seemed like an awful lot?

(maybe I was just very sensitive to the sweetness)

It was very nice before the palm was added though and will definitely be making it again.

i recently bought a new bottle of oyster sauce, it is "healthy boy brand". it was a couple of euro more expensive than the rest, so i thought i was buying quality, that would hopefull have great flavor. i made this recipe with it and it was a bit sweeter than i would like and i thought the flavor of this sauce didnt work well in this dish and actually ruined it.

i guess there is a wide variation in asian ingredients.

its always good to make a recipe by the book the 1st time, so you get the balance of flavors intended. after the first time I find it best to add the sweet sour and salt a bit at a time to my own taste so none is dominant and the balance is correct.

Goose81 · 15-12-2011 8:13pm

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

Was your palm sugar granulated or large solid lumps?

Solid lumps, have I made a rookie mistake?

Mr Magnolia · 15-12-2011 9:16pm

Yeah, would have been a good deal too much. When I get it solid I flake it up with a fork and the volume will increase 3 fold so you used too much.

Goose81 · 15-12-2011 11:09pm

Mr Magnolia wrote: »

Yeah, would have been a good deal too much. When I get it solid I flake it up with a fork and the volume will increase 3 fold so you used too much.

Thanks.

BaZmO* · 15-12-2011 11:46pm

Yeah I got mine in a block too, so made sure I flaked it and then used 2 tbsp of it flaked. I didn't add it all at first either because it was a new ingredient that I hadn't used before. Just added it bit by bit and tasted as I went along.

The Black Oil · 17-01-2012 8:31am

Would a squeeze tube version of lemongrass work here?

Curry Addict · 17-01-2012 11:59am

Black Oil wrote: »

Would a squeeze tube version of lemongrass work here?

ive used it when i was stuck for lemongrass. its not ideal but works fine.

Mawkchunk · 18-01-2012 11:33pm

this curry is amazing! thanks!

Susie_Q · 09-02-2012 10:16am

I'm cooking this tomorrow night for the regional manager of my organisation, my boss, and two Indian colleagues (both of whom are curry experts!). Didn't take me long to decide on what to cook for them - last time I made this I was talking about it for months.

Let's hope I don't make a balls of it this time - will update! Thanks again Curry Addict. Am hoping to make the Massaman one soon as I never got around it to last time.

Curry Addict · 09-02-2012 11:04am

if you make it really good maybe you'll get promotion

hope it works out well!

Susie_Q · 12-02-2012 12:31pm

Curry Addict, you're such a legend. Dinner party on Friday was a huge success. Not only was the curry well received, but everyone took second helpings and my Indian colleagues even asked for the recipe!

Thanks so much - you made me look really great in front of my boss!

Susie_Q · 13-02-2012 4:39pm

Hey Curry Addict,

I'm going to make your Massaman curry on Thursday for some friends. Where I live I can't get either shrimp paste, lime leaves or shallots. I'm guessing for the shallots I can just use onion - any suggestions for the other 2? Will it taste very different if I leave them out?

Thanks in advance! So excited to try another one of your curries.

Curry Addict · 13-02-2012 5:36pm

Susie_Q wrote: »

Hey Curry Addict,

I'm going to make your Massaman curry on Thursday for some friends. Where I live I can't get either shrimp paste, lime leaves or shallots. I'm guessing for the shallots I can just use onion - any suggestions for the other 2? Will it taste very different if I leave them out?

Thanks in advance! So excited to try another one of your curries.

instead of lime leaves you can use the zest of a lime, a kaffir lime preferably if they are available. kaffir lime leaves are actually used here as a replacement for kaffir lime zest as it is rare to find a kaffir lime here! so using the zest gives a better result....
instead of shallots you can use small red onion the smaller the better.
shrimp paste is irreplaceable unfortunately so you will have to leave that out or maybe a teaspoon of fish stock might help. its only 1 ingredient so it wont be noticeable in the end result if you have everything else.
make your paste the day before and refrigerate it, so your under less pressure on the day and can enjoy your friends.

its a lovely hearty curry with bags of flavor

hope it goes well!

Susie_Q · 15-02-2012 7:28am

Thanks a million.

One last question - would cashew nuts work instead of peanuts? Or do you need that specific peanutty flavour? Hard to get peanuts here - lots of groundnuts instead though they are fairly flavourless.

Malari · 15-02-2012 11:27am

I thought groundnuts were peanuts?!

Susie_Q · 15-02-2012 12:03pm

Well now that's something I've just learned today. You're dead right! No worries so - tons of the bloody things here!

(Turns out they taste very very very different freshly harvested in India versus fried in a bag from the pub in Ireland, haha)

Susie_Q · 16-02-2012 7:20pm

Well Curry Addict, you've gone and done it again. I honestly didn't know how you could outdo yourself after last time, but you've done it.

The Massaman curry was AMAZING!

I didn't have all the ingredients due to my geographical location, so I had to tweak the recipe a bit... I couldn't get shrimp paste, or proper limes, and I was worried things would turn out a bit iffy. I just made it as you instructed and then tasted it to see what else it needed. I ended up doubling the beef stock concentration and adding a tablespoon more fish sauce. It didn't taste so brilliant when it was all mixed together first, but once I left it bubble away and reduce for about half an hour it was heavenly. Jaysus it was seriously good.

I cooked it in an Indian version of a wok, and served that right onto the table. I chose not to go with the groundnuts (they really don't taste good here) so instead I sprinkled toasted chopped cashews on top. Worked a treat and looked gorgeous. I really should have taken a photo but I was starving.

I was only feeding myself and two other poeple and had thought I would have some leftovers I could put in the freezer... ha! No chance! The dish was scraped clean, not a bit was left.

Thanks so much. I'm going to get stuck into the recipes in your other thread next week. Can't wait! If you're ever stuck for a pint, let me know - it's on me!

Curry Addict · 17-02-2012 12:13pm

glad it worked out for you

i think the peanuts we get here are roasted so that might be why they taste different. good to see you could tweak the recipe to make it work! balance of flavor is really important in curry making and ingredients differ from place to place so tasting and adjusting is all part of it.

Susie_Q · 21-02-2012 2:40pm

Meant to say that I only used half the amount of dried chillis you recommended... the ones here seem to be super fiery and the curry turned out pretty hot with only 5 chillis in it. You can see the ones I used in this pic... they're not tiny so I'm not sure why they're so flame-inducing!

Curry Addict · 22-02-2012 11:42am

next time maybe remove the seeds, so you get the flavor without the fire. nice spices btw they look very fresh

2011 Cooking club Week 5: Malaysian Chicken/Beef Curry

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