Chicken with Golden Turmeric

[soleta]

Curries of the World
Mridula Baljekar

As turmeric grows abundantly throughout South-east Asia, using it fresh is quite natural for the local people. The fresh version, which is a root like ginger, has a completely different taste and produces a luxurious golden colour in a dish. It is a difficult ingredient to find in the West. A little more than the normal amount of dried ground turmeric will produce an acceptable colour, although the flavour will be somewhat different.

SERVES 4

1.3-1.6kg/3-3½lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces, or 4 chicken quarters, halved
15ml/1 tbsp light brown sugar
3 macadamia nuts or 6 almonds
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 large onion, quartered
2.5cm/1 in piece fresh galangal or 1 cm/½in piece fresh root ginger, sliced, or 5ml/1 tsp galangal powder
1-2 lemon grass stalks, lower 5cm/2in sliced, top bruised
1cm/½in cube shrimp paste
4cm/1½in piece fresh turmeric, sliced, or 10ml/2 tsp ground turmeric
15ml/1 tbsp tamarind pulp, soaked in l50ml/¼ pint/⅔ cup warm water
60-90ml/4-6 tbsp vegetable oil
400g/14oz can coconut milk
salt and ground black pepper
deep-fried onions, to garnish

1 Rub each of the chicken joints with a little sugar and set them aside.
2 Grind the nuts and garlic in a food processor with the onion, galangal or ginger, sliced lemon grass, shrimp paste and turmeric. Alternatively, pound the ingredients to a paste with a pestle and mortar. Strain the tamarind pulp and reserve the juice.

In step 3, start with a medium heat and reduce it to low after 1 minute.

3 Heat the oil in a wok or large pan, and cook the paste, without browning, until it gives off a spicy aroma. Add the pieces of chicken and toss well in the spices. Add the strained tamarind juice. Spoon the coconut cream off the top of the milk and set it to one side.
4 Add the coconut milk to the pan. Cover and cook for 45 minutes, or until the chicken is tender.
5 Before serving, stir in the coconut cream. Season to taste and serve, garnished with deep-fried onions.