Malaysian Nyonya Chicken Curry – Made by the Nyonya or the lady of the House

Today I bring you the Malaysian Nyonya Chicken Curry. Chicken and potatoes, that’s a classic combination probably in all cuisines and culture. And my absolute favorite. I love anything chicken and potatoes. And the Nyonya chicken curry is my absolute favorite.

A little trivia here about the word “Nyonya” and how did the name “Nyonya Chicken Curry” come by and I am quoting Wikipedia.

“Peranakan cuisine or Nyonya cuisine comes from the Peranakans, descendants of early Chinese migrants who settled in Penang, Malacca, Singapore and Indonesia, inter-marrying with local Malays. In Baba Malay, a female Peranakan is known as a nonya (also spelled nyonya), and a male Peranakan is known as a baba. The cuisine combines Chinese, Malay and other influences”.

So I presume it’s the chicken curry cooked by the nyonya, the lady of the house!

I think I have written many times that my family originally hails from Bangladesh which being a coastal country has coconut growing prolifically. And the food that I grew up eating has a lot of coconut and coconut milk. Freshly pressed coconut milk stored in black stoneware was a common sight in my grandma’s place. And traditional Indian meals are a multi-course affair. Honestly, coconut would be featured everywhere from the inaugural shak bhaja (sautéed greens) to the eventual dessert which would be a narkeler payesh or coconut rice pudding. So my affinity for South East Asian cuisine is not surprising.

Another visually distinct memory of my childhood was seeing my grandma’s help come twice a day to grind spices in the traditional mortar pestle. I would watch her intently as she would be grinding a mix of onion, ginger and garlic and then whole cumin, coriander and chilies. I kid you not the color and taste of that food still haunts me. So Malaysian cooking feels very close to home with all the ground wet spice paste love, herbs and of course the coconut or the coconut milk in the end to round off everything.

I often make various versions of the Nyonya chicken curry and let me warn you right off the bat that this recipe of mine definitely deviates from anything authentic. Yes, an authentic Nyonya Chicken Curry has Balachaung or the classic South Asian umami infuser made from shrimp, fried onions and lots of garlic. My husband is severely allergic to sea food, so I don’t practically ever used Balachaung in anything that I cooked at home. Even at restaurants, we are overtly careful to steer clear off anything which has even fish sauce. But I made informed substitutions as you will see in the recipe.

I love the depth of flavors in this curry and let me tell you, if you tell me that it actually tastes similar to something you ate in Southern India or Kerala, I would not be surprised. The earthy yet defined flavors from curry leaves, star anise, black peppercorns and red chili paste is unmistakable. But what a delightful and flavorsome dish to serve your guests.

If you are like me, you can never have enough chicken curry recipes in your arsenal. And this curry goes a step forward as it is a chicken and potato curry. I assure you this is a keeper.

Hope you enjoy making it.

You may also like the recipes below:

Dry Schezwan Fish

Mom’s Chicken Curry

Murg Mumtaz Mahal

Malaysian Nyonya Chicken Curry

---

• Author: Soma
• Prep Time: 20
• Total Time: 20

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

Description

The Nyonya Chicken Curry literally means the chicken curry cooked by the lady of the house and is a star recipe from Southeast Asia especially Penang, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia. It is earthy, rich, spicy and yet smooth and sweet, from the coconut milk. It leaves your taste buds wanting for more.

---

Ingredients

For the Nyonya Spice Paste:

Shallots – 8

Garlic – 4 cloves

Dried Red chili – 6 (soaked in ½ cup of hot water for 30 mins)

Turmeric Root – 2inch piece

Coriander seeds – 1 tbsp (lightly roasted)

Cumin seeds – 1 tsp (lightly roasted)

Fennel Seeds – 1 tsp (lightly roasted)

Star Anise – 1 small

Black peppercorn – ½ tsp

Lemongrass – 1 inch stick ( white part)

Vegetarian Mushroom oyster sauce – 2 tsp

Soy sauce – 1 tsp

For the Curry:

Spice Paste – Made from the ingredients above.

Chicken – 2 pounds ( whole chicken cut into medium pieces)

Potatoes – 5 small or 2 big, cut into big cubes

Cloves – 2

Cinnamon stick – 1-inch piece

Vegetable oil – ¼ cup

Curry Leaves – few

Thick Coconut milk – ¾ cup

Salt – To taste

Sugar – To taste

---

Instructions

Roast the cumin, coriander and fennel seeds lightly on a dry skillet. Take care not to burn and roast it only till it is fragrant.

Take all the ingredients of the Spice paste and grind it together in a blender jar. I used my Nutribullet as I feel it gets to the fine consistency that I look for in this recipe.

Take a big sauce pan, add the oil and heat it.

Add the dry spices, cloves and cinnamon stick and let it get fragrant.

Now add in the spice paste and keep cooking for a good 8-10 mins or till fragrant. You will see the oil separate on the sides.

Now add the chicken pieces, curry leaves, salt and the potatoes and mix it in. Cook everything together for 7-8  mins.

Pour ½ cup of warn water and cover it and let it simmer over medium heat for another 10 -12 mins.

Once done, take the cover out and bring up the heat.

Pour in the coconut milk and mix it in and let it cook till it gets to your desired consistency. I cooked mine for a good 10-12 mins.

Adjust salt and sugar at this stage. The potatoes should be fork tender by now and the chicken should be cooked.

Remove from heat and serve with a side of white rice/brown rice or roti Canai.

---

Notes

If you don’t have turmeric root, feel free to substitute with 2 tsp turmeric powder.

If you don’t have mushroom oyster sauce, just use 3-4 mushrooms in the spice paste.

• Category: Main
• Method: Simmering
• Cuisine: South East Asian

Keywords: nyonyachcikencurry, Malaysianchickencurry, Singaporechickencurry, southeastasianchickencurry