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Vietnamese Chicken Curry | Ca Ri

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By: Cindy Lam Lorimer
Prep Time: 5 hours
Cook Time: 45 minutes
Servings: 6
This Vietnamese curry with tender chicken, carrots, and potatoes packs a flavorful punch and has a nice little kick to it. Whether you serve it over rice noodles, steamed rice, or with a side of French baguette, you'll have everyone thanking you and craving seconds!

Ingredients 

Annatto oil:

  • ½ cup avocado oil , or any neutral oil for frying
  • 1 Tbsp annatto seeds

Marinade:

  • 3 lbs. chicken breast, chopped into large 2-3 inch pieces
  • 4 drumsticks
  • 1 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 1 Tbsp mushroom powder
  • ¼ cup fish sauce
  • 1 Tbsp garlic powder
  • 2 Tbsp Vietnamese curry powder, or any type of yellow curry powder like Madras
  • 1 Tbsp turmeric powder
  • 2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp annatto oil
  • 1 Tbsp shallots, chopped
  • 1 Tbsp chopped garlic

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups carrots, peeled, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
  • 2 cups potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
  • 1 large shallot, chopped
  • 1 inch ginger, peeled, smashed
  • 2 Tbsp garlic, chopped
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 4 lime leaves, optional
  • 1 Tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 Tbsp Vietnamese curry powder, or any type of yellow curry powder like Madras
  • 1 liter low sodium chicken broth, plus 2 cups
  • 1 tomato, quartered
  • 1 liter coconut water, plus 2 cups
  • 2 14 oz cans coconut cream
  • 1 Tbsp mushroom powder
  • 3 Tbsp kosher salt
  • 2 Tbsp cornstarch, mixed with ¼ cup water
  • 3 stalks lemongrass , smashed, cut into 5″ pieces
  • 1 large onion, quartered lengthwise

Garnish:

  • bean sprouts
  • cilantro
  • green onions, chopped
  • basil, rau ram, culantro and/or mint leaves
  • lime

Optional:

  • steamed rice
  • vermicelli noodles
  • French baguette bread

Instructions

  • Make annatto oil by first heating up ½ cup oil. Once oil is hot, remove from heat and add 1 tablespoon of annatto seeds. Don’t let the oil get too hot, or it will burn the annatto seeds. Strain and put annatto oil aside for cooking later.
  • Add all marinade ingredients together and mix well. Then add chicken and massage the sauce into the chicken.
  • Marinate chicken for at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
  • Take out of fridge and bring it to room temperature (approximately 1 hour) so the meat isn’t tough when cooked.
  • Add annatto oil to a pan and fry chicken on medium in two batches so they don’t overcrowd. This will allow the chicken to cook nicely brown. Around 2 mins to each side.
  • Remove chicken and set aside.
  • This next step is optional as you don’t need to fry the carrots and potatoes, and you can simply just add them in the pot when you add the chicken broth. In a deep fryer, do a quick fry of the carrots and potatoes so they don’t disintegrate in the curry later, or air fry them. If air frying, drizzle oil on carrots and potatoes and toss. Set air fryer to french fries mode and fry it for 20 minutes. Give the air fryer pan a good shake every 5 minutes. (I prefer the air fryer method.)
  • Add ¼ cup annatto oil to the same pot. Fry chopped shallots and ginger for a few minutes until shallots are soft.
  • Then add garlic, bay leaves, lime leaves and tomato paste and cook for another minute.
  • Take two tablespoons of the curry powder and fry with onion mix to bring out the curry flavor.
  • Pour a bit of the chicken broth to deglaze, then add chicken, carrots, potatoes, tomatoes, and pour in coconut water, remaining chicken broth and one can of coconut cream.
  • Add mushroom powder, salt, cornstarch and lemongrass stalks.
  • Bring to a boil and then lower to medium low heat and let simmer for 45 minutes.
  • Add quartered onions and the second can of coconut cream, stir to mix and then turn off heat.
  • Throughout the cooking process, make sure to occasionally scoop the foam off the top.
  • Serve with either rice or with vermicelli noodles and eat it like a soup or dip with french baguette bread.

Nutrition

Serving: 1portion | Calories: 994kcal | Carbohydrates: 45g | Protein: 68g | Fat: 62g | Saturated Fat: 30g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 5g | Monounsaturated Fat: 19g | Trans Fat: 0.1g | Cholesterol: 192mg | Sodium: 6036mg | Potassium: 2605mg | Fiber: 9g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 7477IU | Vitamin C: 31mg | Calcium: 159mg | Iron: 7mg

Equipment

  • 8 quart pot

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