Melbourne’s top chefs share curry recipes they swear will spice up your life
THESE are the go-to curry recipes for Melbourne’s best chefs, from kid-friendly Japanese-style to rich butter chicken and spicy authentic Thai.
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THESE are the go-to curry recipes for Melbourne’s best chefs.
From kid-friendly Japanese-style to rich butter chicken and spicy authentic Thai, here’s everything you need to know to make them at home.
TONKA’S BUTTER CHICKEN
“Butter chicken is a crowd pleaser, every household has probably got their own version, just like spaghetti bolognese,” says Adam D’Sylva from Tonka.
“It’s the only curry at Tonka that has ghee and cream in it. It’s the indulgent curry with all the butter. Very tasty and rich!”
INGREDIENTS
Marinade
1kg chicken thigh, skin off, bone removed
200g yoghurt
20g ginger-garlic paste
2g dried fenugreek leaf powder
10g sweet paprika
2g garam masala
2g cumin powder
50g cashew paste
Lemon juice, oil and salt and pepper to taste
Butter sauce
250g unsalted butter
400ml chicken stock
400g red onions, sliced
2 bay leaves
4 cardamom pods
1 cinnamon quill
2g fennel seeds
55g ginger-garlic paste
2g mace powder
2g nutmeg powder
5g sweet paprika
330g chilli paste
4g garam masala
4g dried fenugreek leaf powder
2g cumin powder
1kg tinned tomatoes
50g cashew paste
1 Combine all the ingredients for the marinade, coat the chicken pieces thoroughly, cover and refrigerate overnight.
2 Heat the pan, add 100g butter and a little bit of oil to stop butter from burning.
3 Add all the whole spices, cook until fragrant, add sliced onion.
4 Cook onions until golden brown, then add ginger-garlic paste, cook until fragrant. Then add cashew paste and chilli paste and cook for 5-10 min. Add the powder spices cook until the oil separates Add the tomatoes and chicken. Cook on medium heat for 90 mins. Set chicken aside.
5 Blitz the mixture and put it back in the pot with 100g of butter and 200ml of chicken stock, add the chicken back. Finish cooking in the pot with 50gm butter and 200ml of chicken stock, season with sea salt.
6 Serve with basmati rice and grilled broccolini.
CIBI JAPANESE CURRY
“This style is probably the most common curry cooked at home in Japan and one of the easiest ways to make the tasty mild Japanese curry. Whether you cook with chicken, beef, pork, or vegetarian, its up to you,” says Meg Tanaka, co-owner of CIBI Japanese restaurant in Collingwood. “I often cook this style at home with lots of vegetables. It is one of our kids’ favourite dinners as the Japanese homely curry isn’t too spicy.”
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS
2 medium potatoes, cut into cubes
2 medium carrots, peeled, cubed
2 medium brown onions, sliced
¼ pumpkin, cut into cubes
1 red capsicum, cut into cubes
250g chicken thigh fillet or pork rasher, or beef strips, cut into pieces (optional — vegetarian curries could include chickpeas or other vegetables)
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 tbsp cooking oil
1 L water
110g Japanese curry paste mix*
1 Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a big pot over medium-high heat. Add mustard seeds and cumin seeds until mustard seeds start popping, then add onion, stir fry until soft and transparent, about 3-5 mins.
2 Add meat, stir well until meat changes colour, about 3-5mins.
3 Add potato and carrot, and stir for another 5mins.
4 Add 1 litre of water, cook over medium heat for 15 mins until vegetables become soft.
5 Add pumpkin, capsicum, and chickpeas, cook for another 5 mins until pumpkin becomes soft.
6 Add the curry paste, cook over low heat, stir gently until the paste dissolves and the curry becomes thick.
7 Serve curry with rice. *Japanese curry paste mix comes as a hard block — you can find these in Japanese or general Asian grocers in mild, medium, or spicy.
LONG CHIM’S GRILLED BARRAMUNDI CURRY
David Thompson, world’s leading expert on Thai cuisine — famed for his uncompromisingly authentic and fiery dishes at Long Chim. Makes 2
INGREDIENTS
2 banana leaves
2 large ‘bai yor’ leaves (optional)
2 x 180g barramundi fillet
6 tbsp fresh coconut cream
10 kaffir lime leaves, shredded
A good handful of Thai basil leaves
Coconut mixture
4 tbsp separated coconut cream
3 tbsp red curry paste — see following recipe
2 tbsp palm sugar
2 ½ tbsp fish sauce — to taste
1/2 cup freshly grated coconut meat
Some extra fresh coconut cream if needed
Red paste
6—10 dried long red chillies, deseeded, soaked and drained
Large pinch of salt
1 tbsp chopped galangal
2 tbsp chopped lemongrass
1 tsp finely chopped kaffir lime zest
1 tsp scraped and chopped coriander root
2 tbsp chopped red shallots
3 tbsp chopped garlic
1 tsp shrimp paste (gapi), roasted
1 To make the coconut mixture, simmer the red curry paste in the separated coconut cream. When fragrant, season with the palm sugar and fish sauce. Add the grated coconut and continue to cook. Add some fresh coconut cream and/or water to moisten as required. Refrigerated, it lasts for a few days. When reheating, add a little water and simmer until quite dry.
2 To assemble, clean banana leaves and cut into rectangles. Make sure one piece is twice as long than the other. On the ‘bai yor’ leaf smear a little coconut cream on the bottom half, then sprinkle on a few basil leaves. Spread a layer of the coconut mixture before repeating alternative layers of small amounts of Thai basil, kaffir lime leaves and coconut cream. Place the fish and repeat the layering but in reverse. Fold the ‘bai yor’ leaf to cover the fish and then wrap in the banana leaf.
(If there is no ‘bai yor’ available, then use an extra, smaller piece of banana leaf.)
3 Wrap the outer banana leaf quite tightly — this leaf should char while the inner leaf is used to serve. It does take some time to grill, about 15 mins.
THE ROCHEY’S FISH NADAN
“This is my favourite curry to cook and for years was my go-to staff meal whenever it was my time to cook in the kitchen,” says Mischa Tropp from We Are Kerala who runs the kitchen at a Fitzroy pub.
“Spicy and sour from kokum, a fruit from the mangosteen family, it is the best selling dish at the Rochey.” Serves 5
INGREDIENTS
5 x 200g Spanish mackerel cutlets
80g garlic
120g ginger
400g shallots, diced
200g coconut oil
1 tbsp mustard seeds
1/2 tsp fenugreek
20g dry kokum
3 sprigs curry leaves
Curry paste
9 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
3 tbsp hot chilli powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 Simmer kokum in 1.5L water for 30 minutes. Set aside and let cool. Strain.
2 Peel ginger and garlic. Grind to a paste in blender with a little water.
3 Heat a frying pan until hot and roast fenugreek for 3-5 seconds. Grind in mortar and pestle.
4 Mix curry paste spices with water to form thick paste.
In heavy-bottomed pot add coconut oil and heat until just starting to smoke. Add mustard seeds and cook until they have all popped.
5 Add shallots and fry until caramelised.
6 Add ginger/garlic paste and 2 tsp salt, fry on medium heat until the oil separates from the ginger and garlic paste.
7 Reduce heat to low and add curry paste, keep on cooking until the oil separates from the spices.
8 Add kokum water and simmer until oil comes to the surface.
9 Add fish, curry leaves and ground fenugreek. Cover with lid and simmer on low heat until fish is cooked through.
10 Serve with rice or parota (Keralan flatbread).
SASHI’S KERALA PEPPER CHICKEN
“Kerala style dry roast pepper chicken with freshly ground black pepper is a crowd favourite from my wife’s home town,” says reigning MasterChef champ Sashi Cheliah. “We serve this curry at Gaja by Sashi (Sashi’s pop-up restaurant in the CBD’s HWKR food centre) and it is one of our most requested dishes. It has intense flavours from the spices and a good kick from the black pepper that’s addictive and makes everyone want to come back for more. This is a curry that everyone should try and enjoy.” Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS
800g chicken thigh fillet
2 tbsp coconut oil
2 onions (thinly sliced)
30 curry leaves
For curry paste:
2 onions
2 tsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp chilli powder
3 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Garam masala
1 tsp black pepper powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3 cardamom pod crushed
2 tbsp malt vinegar
1 Blend all curry paste ingredients into a smooth paste.
2 In a large pan, heat the coconut oil and saute the sliced onion until slightly brown.
3 Add curry leaves and cook until fragrant.
4 Add curry paste and cook over low heat for 15min-20 mins until fragrant and the oil comes to the top.
5 Add chicken thigh and cook for another 10-15 mins over medium heat until the chicken cooks through.
6 Remove from heat and garnish with coriander leaves. Best served with rice or roti.
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