Kuzi Ayam (Kelantan Style Chicken Curry)

Yay! I am so glad I got to make a dish for MFF event earlier this time! Hate it when I had to do the mad rush all the time. Ehh...not that I am particularly free now but it was all due to Phong Hong's fabulous recipe and urged me to cook it proto, haha! After the Kay Hong dish (which I cook so often now), I knew I can trust her dishes. :) I had to hand it to her that she shares one the yummiest curries. Thanks Phong Hong! :D So this time in support of MFF event featuring Kelantan, I've made Kuzi Ayam (Kelantan Style Chicken Curry), yummy!

I actually had a hard time trying to take nicer pictures out of this curry dish, lol! I bet all bloggers have this annoying problem when it comes to brown colored food...so hard to capture a good one *sigh*. :P But I tell you the taste is so yummy...even though it is the first not spicy curry I made. I was thrilled to make it because my little ones can enjoy it together with me, haha! Plus the ingredients were not hard to gather at all. :) Here is the recipe as adapted from Phong Hong:

Ingredients for Kuzi Ayam (Serves 4-5ppl)
Dry spice powder mixture:
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground fennel
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp white pepper
1 tsp freshly grated/pounded peeled ginger
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

800g chicken thigh and drum
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped finely
1 tsp salt

1/3 cup vegetable oil (I completely omitted ghee)
250g thinly sliced onions
30g slivered almonds
80g California raisins
150ml tomato puree
50ml ketchup
200ml coconut milk
300-350ml water

1 tbsp sugar (optional: to counter off the tangy taste from the tomato)

• In a mixing bowl, marinate the chicken pieces with the chopped garlic and salt and let sit for 10-15 minutes.
• In a frying pot, add the vegetable oil and heat up at medium fire. Fry the onions till golden brown, dish up and drain on paper towels.
• Fry the slivered almonds for just a minute to get it slight golden brown. Don't over do it, or it'll char and taste bitter...not good eats. :P (I did not fry the raisins because it plums up after boiling in the curry sauce)
• Remove most of the oil leaving only 1 tsp amount. Add in the marinated chicken pieces and cook till lightly brown .
•   
• Add in coconut milk, water, tomato puree, ketchup and stir a while. Then add in all the ground spices and again stir to mix well.
• Add in the fried onions (which I didn't ground also), silvered almonds and raisins. Bring mixture to a boil and add in sugar and salt to taste. Reduce fire to low and simmer mixture for about 15-20 minutes till tender.

My kids really like this curry! And I was really glad the spices didn't give off a strong spice taste...really creamy with a slight tangy taste. I actually added a potato and some hard boiled eggs, haha...Sedap!

Unfortunately I didn't try to make nasi tomato as what Phong Hong as suggested...but it was still very good! :P And I am very sure I will be cooking this again ...and again! :)

I am very happy to submit this post to Malaysian Food Fest Kelantan Month hosted by Gertrude of My Kitchen Snippets.  

Have a great day all!