Galangal Chicken with Curry Leaves

Galangal and curry leaves are two key ingredients in many Asian cooking. As i mentioned before, galangal comes from the ginger family, yet it has stronger taste than the common ginger. Widely used in Thai cuisine (Tom Yum soup) and Indonesian cuisine (Soto), it has this strong yet refreshing aroma not comparable to any other herbs and spices.

Curry leaves is grown in tropical countries.My mum planted one just outside our house.Usually we can also find the dried ones in stores, though the aroma is largely inferior. Curry leaves are widely used in Indian cooking, for example as seasoning in curry, while in Chinese restaurant, they are commonly used to cook butter prawn.

For this recipe, i am using both these ingredients to heighten the flavour of the fried chicken. The crispy chicken is coated with a layer of aromatic spices, making it a great dish to eat with a bowl of plain white rice.

Ingredients:

1                         Chicken thigh (deboned, cut into pieces)
1 1/2 inch            Galangal
1 clove                Garlic
3                         Shallots
2                         Chilli
1 tsp                    Turmeric Powder
1 tbsp                  Light Soya Sauce
1 tbsp                  Oyster Sauce
3 tbsp                  Corn Flour
                            Salt and Sugar to taste
                            Oil for deep frying    

1. Marinate chicken with light soya sauce, oyster sauce and corn flour. Set aside.

2. Blend galangal, garlic, shallots ,chilli and turmeric powder.

3. Heat up oil and deep fry chicken until golden brown. Dish up and remove excess oil.

4. Heat up wok. Add in a bit of oil. Fry the spices until fragrant.

5. Add fried chicken into the wok and mix well. Add salt and sugar to taste.