Having abandoned my quest to google a recipe that was just like the one I make at home bong food hack has been brought out of retirement. Originating in Burma it came to Bengal with the people who migrated from Burma after the 2nd World War. Its a close cousin to the malaysian laksha and the thai masaman curry in that it is a coconut milk based curry. Most of us old Kolkata folk have had our first taste of the khao suey at Taaja's later renamed Bibi of taaja's curated by the chef who is simply Bibi mashi to me. Between her and my boro mashi the renowned cook book author and hostess extraordinaire Babli Mukherjee khao sueys were dished up plenty in family gatherings. Its quick and easy and rather forgiving. The recipe below is not 100% true to either mashis instructions but family is forgiving and I am lazy.
500gms of boneless chicken diced/ Substitute for mushrooms for a vegan alternative
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 onions made into a fine paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
2 cubes of chicken/ veg stock
400 ml coconut milk thats one tin can preferably not the low fat variety
1 Tbsp red chilli powder add more for the bangal less for the ghoti
1 Tbsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
2 Tbsp chickpea flour or besan
cooked noodle of your choice
Optional Toppings:
Boiled eggs thinly slicedSautéed/
fried onions
Spring onion finely chopped
Roasted peanuts... go Hulk "SMASH" on it
Shrimp Balachau
Chilli flakes Lemon juice
Lets start by thinking of the Khao Suey as your regular homely chicken curry and like You start with heating up vegetable oil in your wok. Toss in your onion paste and fry till fragrant. Add the ginger and garlic paste and continue stirring till sufficiently browned. Adding salt at this stage helps the onion cook a bit faster. Turmeric and chilli powder follow suit. The diced chicken must be added now and cooked on low heat for a good 5 minutes making sure to toss it so as to coat it in all the rich paste. You may cover and cook it for another 5 minutes to let the juices out.
Now pour in the coconut milk. If you were wondering , this is the main point of divergence from your bangali chicken curry . Khao Suey is thus possibly closer in flavour to the thai masaman curry. Add your stock cubes along with about 300ml of warm water. Bring to boil.
Now here's another point of divergence ..add the humble besan . flour is used here as a thickening agent and I dont think it adds much in terms of flavour. However if you slightly roast your besan before hand it is quite a bit more flavourful . Wait till the chicken is completely cooked then remove from heat. For consistency check the picture to the left .
The Khao Suey is almost always served with noodles. You can go crazy with the choice of noodles but I like rice noodles or moong bean or glass noodles. However you can use your regular egg noddles or even whatever prepackaged noodle you have around the house.
Serving Khao Suey is an art. In a family gathering it will be served in a big bowl placed at the centre of the table with a ladle to pick up the gravy. All the assorted toppings in smaller bowls around it. Less here is not more. In fact the more number of toppings the more texture and flavour that you add to the curry. I of course made it for myself and shoved it all in a bowl and slurped it with the biggest soup spoon i could find. The mashis would not be proud but the tummy was pleased. Caution : Avoid taking the name literally as a bengali and sit up to eat your meal from a bowl .
Ingredients
500gms of boneless chicken diced/ Substitute for mushrooms for a vegan alternative
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
4 onions made into a fine paste
1 tsp garlic paste
1 tsp ginger paste
2 cubes of chicken/ veg stock
400 ml coconut milk thats one tin can preferably not the low fat variety
1 Tbsp red chilli powder add more for the bangal less for the ghoti
1 Tbsp turmeric powder
Salt to taste
2 Tbsp chickpea flour or besan
cooked noodle of your choice
Optional Toppings:
Boiled eggs thinly slicedSautéed/
fried onions
Spring onion finely chopped
Roasted peanuts... go Hulk "SMASH" on it
Shrimp Balachau
Chilli flakes Lemon juiceLets start by thinking of the Khao Suey as your regular homely chicken curry and like You start with heating up vegetable oil in your wok. Toss in your onion paste and fry till fragrant. Add the ginger and garlic paste and continue stirring till sufficiently browned. Adding salt at this stage helps the onion cook a bit faster. Turmeric and chilli powder follow suit. The diced chicken must be added now and cooked on low heat for a good 5 minutes making sure to toss it so as to coat it in all the rich paste. You may cover and cook it for another 5 minutes to let the juices out.
Now pour in the coconut milk. If you were wondering , this is the main point of divergence from your bangali chicken curry . Khao Suey is thus possibly closer in flavour to the thai masaman curry. Add your stock cubes along with about 300ml of warm water. Bring to boil.
Now here's another point of divergence ..add the humble besan . flour is used here as a thickening agent and I dont think it adds much in terms of flavour. However if you slightly roast your besan before hand it is quite a bit more flavourful . Wait till the chicken is completely cooked then remove from heat. For consistency check the picture to the left .
Serving Khao Suey is an art. In a family gathering it will be served in a big bowl placed at the centre of the table with a ladle to pick up the gravy. All the assorted toppings in smaller bowls around it. Less here is not more. In fact the more number of toppings the more texture and flavour that you add to the curry. I of course made it for myself and shoved it all in a bowl and slurped it with the biggest soup spoon i could find. The mashis would not be proud but the tummy was pleased. Caution : Avoid taking the name literally as a bengali and sit up to eat your meal from a bowl .
