Kapitan Chicken is wonderfully creamy, fragrant Malaysian curry - this Nyonya dish is a prized favourite in Malaysia and you'll understand why once you taste its amazingly flavourful sauce.
Using a food processor or hand blender, blend all the spice paste ingredients together into a smooth paste.
In a work or deep pan, heat the oil over a moderate heat until hot. Add the spice paste and stir fry for 10 minutes. If it begins to stick a little.
Add the chicken and stir fry for a further 2-3 minutes before pouring in the coconut milk, 2 cups water and the tamarind water. Stir well and bring to a simmer. Add the potatoes and submerge. Reduce the heat to medium/low and simmer gently (uncovered) for 30-40 minutes, stirring regularly until the potatoes are soft.
Serve Kapitan Chicken with lots of fluffy jasmine rice and some fresh elements like tomato, cucumber and cilantro on the side.
Video
Notes
Machine blending - I use an immersion blender to create the Kapitan Chicken curry paste, a bullet blender creates excellent results too. You can use a regular blender, food processor or use a pestle & mortar too. If you use a pestle & mortar, grind the ingredients one by one in this order: Galangal, lemongrass, candlenuts, shallots, turmeric, garlic and then stir in the remaining paste ingredients.
Batch Curry Paste - Make a large batch of curry paste and freeze it! It will cut a massive chunk out of the preparation time.
Serving - Serve this curry with lots of Jasmine rice or frozen paratha bread (you can find this at any Indian supermarket/store).
Alternative meats - Try with pork, beef or lamb. You’ll need to cook the meat for longer (about 1½ hours), so add a little more water and then the potatoes in the last 30 minutes.
Fridge storage – Kapitan Chicken will stay fresh in the fridge 5-7 days
Freezer storage – Chicken Kapitan is a good option for freezing, although the potato can get a little mushy during reheating, either endure there’s no potato in your frozen leftovers, or just be happy that it’s so tasty, albeit with a little mushy potato. Choosing a waxy potato will help avoid too much break-up.