Images Tomato Chicken Curry

Tomato Chicken Curry with Finger-licking Tender Potatoes

It's chicken curry day! Cooking curry is usually reserved for Sundays in my family. This is because of the amount of work involved. Mom's a firm believer of the "pound with pestle and mortar" method. She's been pounding chilies, onions and garlic for years! I prefer the electric blender ....shhHhh..

This is my version of yummy Tomato Chicken Curry. It's been sometime since I last cooked tomato curry. I've forgotten what really goes into it so I've come out with this new version, which is not bad either - an aromatic, tomato rich flavoured dish which does not come with an overpowering taste of curry powder.

I am someone who loves curry but I don't quite fancy curries with that powdery taste so I tend to cut down on the powder or add on other ingredients to balance things out.

Anyway, this is the recipe. Quite a number of ingredients in there but very easy to cook and well worth the effort. 

Ingredients:
- Half chicken (cut into small pieces)
- 4 medium tomatoes (quartered)
- 1 large potato (cubed)
- 4 cloves garlic (roughly cut)
- 1 large onion (roughly cut)
- Pinch of ginger
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp meat curry powder
- 1 tbsp blended fresh chili
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 2 tbsp cooking cream (or more)
- 2 one-inch cinnamon sticks
- 2 star anise
- 2 cardamom pods
- 1 tsp light sweet-saltish soy sauce (optional)
- ¼ tsp dark soy sauce (optional)
- 2-3 tbsp cooking oil 
- Salt to taste
- Water

How-to:
1) Blend onion, garlic and ginger together (with a bit of water if necessary), into a rough paste. Set aside.

2) Mix coriander and curry powder with a bit of water, into a wet paste. Set aside.

3) Heat cooking oil in pot. Pour in garlic, onion and ginger paste. Add cinnamon sticks, star anise and cardamom pods. Fry until fragrant.

4) Add curry powder and coriander paste. Mix well, then add tomato puree, fresh chilli, tomatoes, potato and chicken. Stir until all the ingredients are coated. Add water, just enough to cover the chicken. Cook covered until chicken and potatoes are tender to your liking. (Don't be afraid to add more water if you want more curry gravy.)

5) Season with salt, and soy sauce (optional). Lower the heat and stir in cooking cream. Mix well and that's it. Serve garnished with chopped spring onions if you like.

Tomato Chicken Curry..Perfect with Breads and Rice

Images Foil-Baked Herbal Chicken

Oh noooOoo.. there goes my decade-old crockpot! It tore at the rim just as I placed the heavy clay pot onto the heating base *sad*.

I was going to slow cook a herbal chicken dish for dinner but ended up using the oven, going the foil-wrap way. The meal turned out oh-so-yummy but then again, my lack of fussiness is surely a bane to food critiquing and any real assessment taste-wise. I have the genes of a regular mom (although I'm not one myself) when it comes to food and wastage.

This is my version of Foil-Baked Herbal Chicken. It's simple to prepare - just involves throwing everything together and leaving it to cook. The end result is tender chicken in a rich flavoured sweetish soup gravy.

Foil-Baked Herbal Chicken

Ingredients:
- 4 chicken thigh pieces
- 2 large red dates (seeded and halved)
- 2 medium onions (quartered)
- A handful of solomon seal rhizome (yu zhu, pre-soaked an hour)
- A handful of fresh coriander (roughly cut)
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce stirred in 1-1½ cup water (largely depends on baking tray size)
- Pinch of salt and pepper

How-to:
1. Rub a little salt and pepper on the chicken pieces.

2. Line the inside of the baking dish with foil. Spread chicken pieces, dates, onions, yu zhu on top. Pour diluted oyster sauce in at the sides (Add more water/sauce if you want more gravy).

3. Cover the top of the tray with foil, make it air-tight (to steam the chicken). Bake at 180C in a pre-heated oven for just about an hour. Leave to rest for another 15 minutes before opening the cover (Be careful - hot steam will gush out.)

4. Garnish with coriander and serve.