Vietnamese Chicken Curry (Cà ri Gà)

Chicken curry is the traditional dish that most serve in very special events. In the South of Vietnam, this dish has a little sweeter and heavier taste than others because a heavy volume of coconut milk is added. Different kinds of potatoes can be used for this dish. Some recipes bake or fry the potatoes; some others just cook potatoes with broth. All the spices are typical Southeast Asian from India, Thailand, or China. In Vietnam, the curry powder to use for this dish is "Cà ri Ấn Độ", but I am using the combination of both curry powder from India and red curry paste from Thailand because I love the taste and the color when adding the red curry paste to the broth. The desire for authenticity is always behind most of my Vietnamese recipes with only concessions for the Westerners’ preferences and the healthy purpose--I never use the MSG (monosodium glutamate) and less of the fish sauce as the main seasoning for Vietnamese food  just as soy sauce is for Chinese food. In my not so humble, subjective opinion, Vietnamese Chicken curry should be at least as popular, if not more, as Thai or Indian curry.

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken thighs, bone in, skinless
Spice paste:
1 large shallot, chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp fresh ginger, chopped
2 tbs sugar
1 tbs lemongrass chopped  very fine
2 tbs curry powder
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Other ingredients:
1 lb. potatoes, peeled and cut into big chunks
2 carrots, peeled and cut into big chunks
1 small white onion, thickly sliced
1 kaffir lime leaf or bay leaf
1 stalk of lemongrass, lightly crushed
1 tsp Thai red curry paste
1 can coconut milk
3 cups chicken broth
2 dried red hot chilies

More salt and fish sauce to taste
1/2 cup oil

Garnish with chopped green onions and cilantro

Directions:
Cut the chicken thighs into big chunks.

Mix all the spice ingredients in a large container. Add chicken, cover, and marinate for a few hours – it is best when marinated overnight.

In a large sauce pan, heat oil until hot. Fry the potatoes until golden brown. Remove from pan.

Wipe off some spice paste from the chicken and reserve the spice paste
In a sauce pan, heat oil until hot; Fry all the chicken until brown.

Add white onions, cook, and stir until softened. Add the reserve spice paste and red curry paste into the sauce pan.

 Mix well with chicken. Add chicken broth, the crushed lemongrass, the carrots and the kaffir leaf. Bring to boil (skim off some residue if any rises up on the surface).

Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add  potatoes and continue cooking on medium heat for another 15 minutes.

Add coconut milk and simmer further for 10 minutes. Season with fish sauce and salt, if needed.

Sprinkle green onions and cilantro over it. Remove and discard the lemongrass. Serve with a crusty French baguette or plain rice.