Ang Sarap (A Tagalog word for "It's Delicious")

Chicken Curry

Last weekend I was checking all of my posts for any popular Filipino dishes that I might have missed and to my surprise after 300 plus posts I don’t have a chicken curry.  This chicken curry recipe definitely had originated from the famous Indian curry dish which can be seen from the spices used but the taste had evolved to specifically cater for the Filipino palate which means it’s not as strong as the original curry and the sauce is a bit thinner. It might have been brought by the Indian soldiers known as Sepoy’s who settled down in Philippines during the British Occupation of the Philippines during (1762-1764).

Curry for those who does not know is not a type dish but more of a generic description for a variety of dishes that have an Indian or South East Asian origin which uses dried spices such as turmeric, coriander and cumin. But for the Filipinos curry is used as a name of a dish but like the definition it uses the same spices but with the addition of local ingredients such coconut milk, potatoes, carrots, capsicum, ginger and bay leaves. For this recipe instead of using the usual potatoes we will be using sweet potatoes which give it a sweet side to its taste, a secret ingredient I learned from my wife.

Ingredients

1kg Chicken legs
3 tbsp curry powder
2 cups coconut milk
3 medium sweet potatoes, quartered
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 cups chicken stock
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 large red onion, chopped
3 pcs bay leaves
2 pcs large red chillies, sliced
freshly ground black pepper
fish sauce
oil

Method

1. In a pot heat oil then brown chicken on all sides, remove from pot then set aside
2. Add garlic and onion, sauté for 1 minute
3. Add chicken stock, sweet potatoes, carrots, bay leaves and chicken. Bring to a boil and simmer for 30 minutes.
4. Add the curry powder, coconut milk and red chillies then simmer for 15 more minutes.
5. Season with freshly ground pepper and fish sauce.