MALAYSIAN CHICKEN KURMA

 At the last Food Club i was demonstrating cute ideas for Xmas and gifts to simply say "thanks".  One of my favourite ideas was a spice box which can be anything from a collection of spices which you would associate with Moroccan, Indian, Italian cuisine packaged beautifully and put into a cute box.
I love to make curries and thought that it would make for a lovely little gift, so i measured out the dry ingredients and put them into little bags along with the recipe wrapped it in a beautiful box tied with ribbon. This little box of spice can say a lot and it can take out the hassle of purchasing ingredients that they might not have or be familiar with and it is also a good way of trying a dish from another country.

MALAYSIAN CHICKEN KURMA
serves 4
1 whole chicken, cut into portions or 4 chicken drumsticks and 4 chicken thighs
thumb size of fresh ginger, sliced thinly
1 red and 1 green chilli, pricked
2 onions, sliced thinly
3 tomatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic
2 limes, juice
1 Tbsp coriander root, roughly chopped (or leaves)
1 can coconut milk
ghee or butter and a little oil

SPICES (this is what i measured and put into little cellophane bags)
1 Tbsp ground cumin
2 Tbsp ground coriander
1 Tbsp ground white pepper
2 1/2 tsp ground fennel seeds
3 cardamon pods
1 1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 cinnamon stick
60g crushed cashew nuts

Method

1. Heat ghee or butter along with a little oil in a heavy based pot.  Add the onion and cook for a 5 minutes, add the spices, garlic and ginger and cook gently for another 5 minutes or until the mixture becomes fragrant.
2.  Add the chicken and coat well with the mixture.
3. Add in coconut milk and salt. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat. Cover with lid and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add chillies and cook uncovered till chicken is almost done (about 15 minutes), stirring occasionally. Place in tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
5. Add in lime juice. Dish up and serve hot with rice.