About this recipe
The everyday Myanmar curry — here made with chicken — is built on a foundation of onions, garlic, ginger and turmeric cooked slowly in oil until deep and sweet, coloured with paprika and seasoned with fish sauce and often a little ngapi, then simmered with the meat until the gravy thickens and the seasoned oil rises to the top. That risen oil, called si pyan ('the oil returns'), is prized as a sign the curry is properly cooked. It is quite different from the coconut curries of Thailand and the Malay world, from Indonesian gulai and rendang, and from Indian-restaurant curry: it is onion-heavy, oil-forward, only mild-to-medium in heat, and does not use coconut or a pounded fresh-spice curry paste. This is a prominent nationwide Bamar-style form, presented with those distinctions drawn and the comparisons logged for verification.
Recipe facts
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Prep
- 25 minutes
- Cook
- 50 minutes
- Total
- 75 minutes
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Spice
- Mild to medium
Allergens Contains poultry and, if used, shellfish/fish (ngapi and fish sauce). Contains no dairy, coconut or gluten as written. Not vegetarian. See the halal-status field.
Development draft. This is an untested development recipe from the cookbook project. It has not been kitchen-tested, and the quantities and timings are the author’s working draft rather than a verified result.
Ingredients
The curry base
- 3 large onions, roughly chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 2 in (5 cm) fresh ginger, chopped
- 1/3 cup (80 ml) neutral oil (Myanmar curries use a generous amount)
- 1 tbsp (8 g) paprika, for colour
- 1 tsp (3 g) ground turmeric
- 1/2 to 1 tsp (1 to 2 g) chilli powder, to taste
The chicken and seasoning
- 3 lb (1.4 kg) bone-in chicken pieces, skin removed if preferred
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) fish sauce
- 1 tsp (5 g) ngapi (fermented fish/shrimp paste), optional but traditional
- 1 tsp (5 g) salt, or to taste
- 2 ripe tomatoes, chopped (optional, for a slightly tangy gravy)
- 1 cup (240 ml) water
To serve
- Chopped coriander
- Steamed rice, to serve
Equipment
- Heavy pot or Dutch oven
- Blender or mortar and pestle for the onion paste
Method
- Blend the onions, garlic and ginger to a coarse purée.
- Heat the oil in the pot over medium heat and add the purée with the paprika, turmeric and chilli powder. Fry, stirring often, until the paste is soft, deep gold and the raw smell is gone and the oil begins to separate, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Add the chicken pieces and turn to coat in the paste. Add the fish sauce, the optional ngapi, the salt and the optional tomatoes, and stir for a few minutes.
- Add the 1 cup water, bring to a simmer, cover and cook gently until the chicken is tender, about 30 minutes, turning the pieces now and then.
- Uncover, raise the heat a little and simmer until the gravy is thick and clinging and a layer of seasoned reddish oil rises to the surface, 10 minutes more. Skim some oil if you prefer a leaner dish.
- Taste and adjust the salt with fish sauce. Scatter with coriander.
- Serve hot with steamed rice, spooning a little of the seasoned oil and gravy over the rice.
From the foundations
The book pairs this recipe with the following, from the sauces, sambals and pastes that open the collection.
The Complete Edition
Burmese Chicken Curry sits in the Myanmar chapter
The book carries this recipe in full alongside the rest of the Myanmar chapter, the pastes and dips it is built on, and the twenty-seven pantry studies that open the collection.
In review with Amazon KDP
Both editions have been submitted to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and are currently in review. Submitted prices are $9.99 for the kindle edition and $49.99 for the paperback. Neither is on sale yet, and prices are as submitted rather than final.