Devil Curry (Debal)

I have cooked this dish on a few occasions and have received very good reviews.  As I understand it, and upon further confirmation with Wikipedia, this is a curry from the Eurasian Kristang community in Malacca.  There are a few versions of this recipe, some using candlenuts and galangal, but the one I cooked do not contain these two ingredients.

When I came across this recipe from Amy Beh which appeared in Kuali, I thought that it was quiet interesting and gave it a try.  When I tasted the dish, it was just alright, nothing spectacular and kept some leftovers in the fridge.  The next day after I reheated it, KAPOW!  The Devil Curry took on a new personality.  The flavors were robust and very appealing.  It dawned upon me that this is a dish that requires time to mature for the flavors to develop and enhance.  So if you want to eat a good Devil Curry, cook it one day ahead.

I am reproducing the recipe below from Amy Beh and my modifications are in red.

Devil Curry

Ingredients

- 600g chicken, cut into bite size pieces

- 200g carrot, cut into wedges (I omitted)

- 1 onion, quartered

- 1 tomato, quartered

- 1 green chilli, seeded (I omitted)

Ground Spices (to be combined)

- 5 dried chillies, soaked

- 6 fresh red chillies, seeded

- 5 shallots (I used 15 shallots as I like my curry thick)

- 3 cloves garlic

- 1 thumb-sized ginger

- 2-3 thin slices fresh tumeric (I used 1 inch fresh tumeric)

- 3/4 tsp mustard seeds

- 3 tbsp oil

Seasoning

- 3 tbsp lemon juice

- 3 tbsp tomato ketchup

- 1 tsp prepared mustard

- 1 tsp sugar

- 1 tsp salt (or to taste)

- 1/2 cup water

Method

Heat oil in a saucepot. Fry the ground ingredients until fragrant and the oil rises to the top. Add chicken, carrot and onion and stir fry well.

Mix in green chilli, tomato and seasoning.  Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer covered for 25 to 30 minutes until chicken is cooked and tender,  Leave curry covered and set aside for 30 minutes before serving. (I recommend to keep this dish overnight for flavors to develop).

I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest Melaka State hosted by Cindy of yummylittlecooks.