Myanmar - Burmese Chicken Curry

Burmese Chicken Curry

If one were to cross indian and Chinese food, and the result were successful, it would taste like this Burmese dish, a curry with many dimensions of flavor, served on top of egg noodles! This is an involved dish to make, but is a meal in itself. Recipe originates from the book "Asian Pasta" by Linda Burum. Serves 8 to 10.

Ingredients

-       1/2 cup vegetable oil

-       1/2 teaspoon turmeric

-       3 large onions, chopped finely

-       4 cloves garlic, minced

-       2 tablespoon ginger finely minced

-       1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

-       2 teaspoon ground cumin

-       1 teaspoon ground coriander

-       3 teaspoon garam masala

-       4 whole chicken breasts and 3 whole chicken legs

-       1 cinnamon stick

-       1 bayleaf

-       8 cups chicken broth

-       2/3 cup chick pea flour or dried yellow split peas

-       2 cups coconut milk

-       1 tablespoon fish sauce

-       salt to taste

-       2 lbs fresh Chinese egg noodles

Condiments

-       Peel and slice 12 garlic cloves crosswise. Fry them in 4 tablespoon oil until they are golden. Remove and cool.

-       3 hard cooked eggs quartered

-       2 red onions slivered lengthwise

-       3 green onions thinly sliced

-       2 limes or lemons cut into wedges

-       1 bunch fresh coriander sprigs, trimmed.

-       2 tablespoon crushed dried Asian Chili peppers sauted in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil

Directions

-       Heat the vegetable oil in an 8 to 12 quart pan or Dutch oven.

-       Stir in the turmeric and cook it for one minute.

-       Add the onions and cook on medium heat stirring occasionally, until the onions are limp but not browned, about 20 minutes.

-       Add the garlic, ginger, cayenne, cumin, coriander and garam masala.

-       Cook and stir the mixture about 1 minute.

-       Add the chicken pieces and stir to coat them with the onions and spices.

-       Add the cinnamon, bay leaf, and chicken broth, and simmer for 25 minutes.

-       Mix the chick pea flour with 1 1/3 cups water, or grind the lentils to a flour in a blender or mortar and mix 3/4 cup of the resulting flour with 1 1/3 cups water.

-       Stir the mixture into the soup. Add the coconut milk, cover and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

-       Thaw egg noodles if frozen.

-       Put noodles in a large pot of boiling water and boil for 6-7 minutes.

-       Drain noodles and stir in a couple of teaspoon of vegetable oil to keep them from sticking together and set aside.

-       Remove the pan from the heat and carefully lift out the chicken pieces.

-       Remove the meat from the bones and return it to the sauce.

-       Add fish sauce and salt to taste.

-       Serve the noodles of a platter and the curry and condiments separately.

-       Diners first serve themselves to noodles, then the curry, then to the condiments they like.