Sri Lankan Style Chicken Curry

This used to be one of my dad's favorite dishes to make. Dad was the one who cooked chicken at home, and mom says she didn't know how to make chicken curry until she got married. Her parents didn't eat meat. So it was my dad who taught mom how to make chicken curry.

I used chicken thighs in this recipe, but any part would be fine.

I cook this curry in very low heat to keep chicken moist and tender. It took me a while to learn how to chicken without drying it.

Ingredients:

700 g chicken thigh

1 tsp ginger paste

1 tsp tamarind concentrate

1/8 tsp turmeric powder

1 1/2 TBS curry powder 

2 TBS coconut oil

1/2  large onion chopped

4 garlic cloves minced

2 cloves

2 cardamom pods

2 sprigs of curry leaves

a small piece of pandan leaf

approximately 4 inch piece of lemongrass cut into smaller pieces

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 cup coconut milk

salt

Cut chicken into large pieces and pat dry. I remove skin to reduce fat.
In a bowl, mix chicken with ginger paste, tamarind concentrate, turmeric powder and curry powder. This will make a thick paste. Leave chicken+paste for about 15 minutes.
In a heavy pan, heat coconut oil in high heat.
Add chicken+paste and cook for about 3 minutes.
Add chopped onion and garlic. Stir well and cook for another 1-2 minutes.
Turn down heat to simmer. Add curry leaves, pandan, cloves, cardamom pods and lemongrass.
Mix everything well, cover the pot and cook at low heat for  10 minutes.
Add coconut milk and cook for another 10 minutes.
Add salt and mix well.
Add chicken broth and cook for another 5 minutes or so, or until chicken juices run clear.

This has a thick gravy. You can thin it with more coconut milk and/or broth.

Remove curry leaves, pandan and lemongrass pieces before serving.