Sri Lankan Chicken Curry (Kukul Mas Curry)

Method

1. Cut the chicken on the bone into 5–6 cm pieces (thighs and drumsticks stay juiciest) and pat dry with kitchen paper. In a bowl, rub the chicken all over with the curry powder, chilli powder, turmeric, salt and vinegar and leave to marinate for 30 min. Wash your hands and board with soap right after handling raw chicken. Meanwhile, thinly slice the onion, chop the garlic and ginger, slit the chillies lengthwise, dice the tomato and bruise the lemongrass with the back of a knife.

   Add in this stepChicken, bone-in (thighs and drumsticks) 500 gSri Lankan roasted curry powder (or regular curry powder) 4 tspChilli powder 1 tspGround turmeric ½ tspSalt 1 tspWhite vinegar 2 tsp

2. Heat the oil in a heavy 20 cm pot over medium heat, add the fenugreek, cinnamon, cardamom and cloves and stir for 30 sec, until fragrant and the fenugreek turns light brown. Straight away add the curry leaves, pandan and lemongrass; curry leaves spit when they hit the oil, so stand back. If the fenugreek turns black it will taste bitter, so start again.

   Add in this stepCoconut oil or vegetable oil 2 tbspFenugreek seeds ¼ tspCinnamon stick (3 cm piece) 1Green cardamom pods 3Whole cloves 3Curry leaves (sprig) 1Pandan leaf (5 cm piece, optional) 1Lemongrass stalk 1

   medium heat

3. Add the onion, garlic, ginger and green chillies and fry over medium heat for 5 min, until the onion is soft and golden at the edges.

   Add in this stepRed onion (medium) 1Garlic cloves 4Fresh ginger 10 gGreen chillies 2

   medium heat

4. Tip in the chicken with all its marinade, turn the heat up to medium-high heat and stir-fry for 6 min, until the outside of the pieces turns opaque and the spices smell toasty. If anything starts to stick, add a splash of water and scrape the bottom with a wooden spoon.

   medium-high heat

5. Add the tomato and water and bring to the boil over high heat, then turn down to low heat, cover and simmer for 22 min. Stir once or twice so nothing catches on the bottom.

   Add in this stepTomato (medium) 1Water 150 ml

   high heat→low heat

6. Pour in the coconut milk and simmer uncovered over low heat for 5 min more, until the gravy thickens. Keep it at a gentle bubble; boiled hard, coconut milk can split. The chicken is done when the thickest piece shows no pink near the bone and the juices run clear (75 °C). Taste and add a little more salt if needed.

   Add in this stepCoconut milk 200 ml

   low heat

7. Turn off the heat, cover and leave for 5 min so the flavours settle. Fish out the cinnamon, lemongrass and pandan and serve with hot rice or roti.