Devil's curry

This recipe is based on the recipe from Leite's Culinaria website.  Devil’s curry is a classic Malaysian curry, made with a complex curry paste - lemongrass, dried chiles (that how you will control the heat) fresh ginger, turmeric.  It is loaded with satisfying chicken and potatoes. Don't let the name scare you- this is delicious.

To  turn down this devil's heat use mild, dried guajillo and ancho peppers and pass around a homemade hot sauce for others to "heat it up" to their taste.  It is delicious and hearty!

To serve four.

INGREDIENTS

For the curry paste
  3               lemongrass stalks
  1 1/2 oz    ginger root
  1 oz          fresh galangal
  1 oz          fresh turmeric
  2 tbsp       fish sauce
  10 to 15    whole dried chile peppers* (a wide array of peppers will work here- I used ancho and   guajillo)
  3 1/2 tbsp  apple cider vinegar
  3 banana or regular shallots, peeled
  6                garlic cloves, peeled
  1 tsp          ground turmeric
  2 tbsp        grapeseed oil

For the curry sauce
 Grapeseed oil, for cooking
  1 tbsp        yellow mustard seeds
 12               chicken drumsticks (or chicken thighs)
  2 tbsp        dark brown sugar
  4                potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
  2 cups       chicken broth
  Small handful of cilantro, to serve

DIRECTIONS

Make the curry paste**
Remove and discard the woody ends of the lemongrass stalks and coarsely chop the inner stalks. Peel the ginger and then peel or scrape the skin from the galangal and turmeric. Add the lemongrass, ginger, and the remaining paste ingredients to a food processor and pulse until a smooth, pungent paste forms. You may need to scrape down the sides of the bowl once or twice to ensure everything is incorporated.

Make the curry sauce
In a 5 or 6-quart Dutch oven set over medium-high heat, warm 2 to 3 tablespoons oil until hot but not smoking. Add the mustard seeds and cook, stirring occasionally, until they start to pop violently, about 30 seconds. Let the seeds continue cooking noisily for a minute and then stir in the paste. Cook, stirring every minute or so, until the paste seems to dry out, a good few minutes. Reduce the heat to medium, add the chicken, and stir to coat. Cook for 15 minutes. Stir in the sugar and then add the potatoes and chicken stock. If the stock doesn’t quite cover everything, add enough water to ensure the potatoes are just covered.

Bring the curry to a boil and then reduce to a simmer and cook, uncovered, until the potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes, giving the curry a stir every once in a while.

Remove the Dutch oven from the heat and let sit for 15 minutes before sprinkling with the cilantro or parsley.

**I double the curry paste recipe and freeze it.  This makes a quick weeknight dinner!