Entree - "Red" chicken

I am glad this was not too spicy for you. It did take some time preparing the ingredients (thanks Barbara for the elbow grease in pounding the coriander seeds with the mortar & pestle!). You absolutely can put ground spices (A) below into a food processor.

Ayam Masak Merah (“Red” chicken)

Ingredients

1 kg chicken, chopped into bite-sized pieces

2 onions, cubed

3 potatoes, cubed

2 tomatoes, cubed

1 small can tomato paste

150ml water (+ more if needed)

4cm piece cinnamon stick

4 whole cloves

1 star anise

Vegetable oil

Ground spices (A):

10 shallots

4 cloves garlic

12 red chillies, seeded

3cm ginger

2 tbsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

Method

Heat some oil in pan till hot and stir fry chicken till half cooked. Dish up and keep aside.

Using same pan, heat some more oil until hot, sauté ground spices (A) until fragrant. Add in cinnamon stick, cloves and star anise. Fry for 1–2 minutes.

Add onions, tomato paste and potatoes. Stir-fry well. Mix in water and tomatoes. Cook until mixture starts to boil. Reduce heat and mix in the chicken that was set aside. Simmer until chicken is tender and gravy turns thick.

Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve this mildly spiced curry dish with bread slices or with plain rice or fried rice.