Cooking my Nyonya Curry Chicken this Lunar New Year

I was hanging around my husband’s aunt’s kitchen like a shadow, smelling up every dish she cooked for Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) Reunion dinner. While she did not give me her treasured recipe (*sob*), she did throw me a bone. She gave me her special Nyonya-styled Chicken curry paste and I intended to make The Most out of that.

I combined her recipe with mine, because honestly, if I don’t use my beloved spices, I feel like I am cutting out one piece of my soul..(how dramatic, but true!)

From the first picture, notice how I used mustard seeds and curry leaves. These two ingredients along with fenugreek, fennel, candle nuts were probably left out in my husband’s aunt’s original recipe.

It is important to use home made chicken broth.

Real, unprocessed, tasty home cooked food takes t-i-m-e, takes effort and strategic planning. I cook my curry at least a day in advance because:

It causes less stress on the event day, I can waltz into the event looking all fly and shit
It is rude to turn up late for pot luck with bad food (I had the misfortune of tasting flat curry after having waited two hours for it during an office party)
Curry tastes better overnight

Give it some time, the chicken curry will achieve a better consistency over time. Use low heat, to coax the taste out and to ensure the meat falls off the bones.