I love this Spicy Nyonya Chicken Curry because as well as being hot hot hot, it is amazingly full of flavour.  This recipe happens to be based on one of my all time favourite Rick Stein recipe’s from his book Far Eastern Odyssey.

I mean, who doesn’t love a Rick Recipe?

Wait…Nyonya Chicken Curry? What is Nyonya? What does Nyonya Mean?

It’s funny you should ask.

Nyonya cuisine is an interesting fusion of Chinese, Malaysian, Singaporean and Indonesian cuisines.  It provides a tasty combination of flavours that each of these nations / regions have to offer.

In Indonesian, Nyonya is a respectful word used to refer to the married lady of the house e.g. the wife or mother – Feel free to correct me in the comments if that’s wrong…

In his book, Rick writes that this Nyonya Chicken Curry recipe was first shown to him by a lady by the name of Amy who cooked in a Nyonya restaurant – This is literally a restaurant were all the cooks are female.  This demonstrates the matriarchal influence that’s special and unique to this region.

About Nyonya Cuisine

Nyonya cuisine boasts an array of dishes that vary by region.

For example, the island of Penang in northern Peninsular Malaysia incorporates Thai influences, such as an abundance of tamarind and other sour ingredients.

Dishes in Singapore and Malacca exhibit greater Indonesian influence through the use of coconut milk.

A prime example of this diversity is laksa, a spicy noodle soup that comes in two variations: the sour asam laksa from Penang and the coconut milk-based laksa lemak found in Singapore and southern regions of Peninsular Malaysia.

The signature flavor of Nyonya dishes, (including laksa), is created by the use of rempah, a paste made from a blend of spices pounded together with a mortar and pestle.

The preparation of rempah is an art form in itself, and it is said that a Nyonya can even gauge the culinary skills of a new daughter-in-law by the sound of her preparing the paste.

Nyonya recipes are often passed down through generations and are traditionally enjoyed in the comfort of home due to the lengthy preparation process.

About this Nyonya Chicken Curry

This Nyonya Chicken Curry recipe is a flavoursome South-East Asian curry that’s super tasty,  fragrant as well as being spicy.

As is common with many foods from this region it tends to be a fusion of many South-East-Asian styles and ingredients.

Overall, the combination of Chinese, Malay, and Indonesian flavours and ingredients makes this Nyonya Chicken Curry a truly unique and delicious culinary experience.

The curry is a very easy to make and if you’d prefer a more authentic version you could increase the amount of shrimp paste a little, but I prefer it as per the recipe.

Some of you might struggle to get shrimp paste, so if you do, you can use fish sauce instead.  You do need to remember that fish sauce isn’t as “strong” as shrimp paste, so you will need to use 2-3 times as much more.

Now I will say that this version is super spicy, so if you’re not a chili lover, then you might want to reduce the amount of chilli to begin with.

You can then increase it each time you make it so that you find the level of hotness you enjoy

Nyonya Chicken Curry Ingredients

Nonya Chicken Curry Spice Paste (Rempah)

• 6 dried red chillies, preferably Kashmiri, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes, then drained
• 75g/2¾oz shallots, thinly sliced
• 3 fat lemongrass stalks, hard outer leaves removed, soft inner core chopped.  If you can’t get fresh lemongrass, you can use one of the pastes that many supermarkets now sell.
• 40g/1½oz garlic, peeled, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp shrimp paste (available from some supermarkets and Asian grocers).  You can substitute this for fish sauce, but you will need 2-3 times the amount of shrimp paste.
• 25g/1oz galangal or root ginger, peeled, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Other Ingredients

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 x 1.5kg/3lb 5oz chicken, cut into pieces
• 2 lemongrass stalks, bruised with a rolling pin then cut in half lengthways
• 4 lime leaves
• 200ml/7fl oz water
• 1 tsp palm sugar (available from some supermarkets and Asian grocers; substitute golden caster sugar if unavailable)
• 1 lime, juice only
• salt, to taste

How to Make Spicy Nyonya Chicken Curry

Prep Time

The total time you’ll need to prepare this recipe is approx 30 minutes.

Cook Time

Cooking this Nyonya Chicken Curry will take approx 30-40mins

Servings

The recipe as listed here is for 4 servings

Making the Nyonya Curry Spice Paste

1. Add all of the spice paste ingredients into in a food processor and blend until smooth. Simples!

How to Cook the Nyonya Chicken Curry

1. Heat the vegetable oil in a decent sized pan over a medium heat.  Add the chicken pieces and fry until they are golden-brown all over.
2. Add the spice paste to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until fragrant
3. Add the bruised lemongrass stalks, lime leaves and water and bring the mixture to a simmer
4. Simmer for 30-40 minutes, turning the chicken pieces over now and again, until the chicken pieces are completely cooked through and the volume of liquid has reduced by about a half. (NB: The chicken pieces are cooked through when the juices run clear when pierced in the thickest part with a skewer.)
5. When the chicken is cooked through, stir in the palm sugar and lime juice
6. Season to taste, with salt.
7. Serve immediately in serving bowls.

Recipe Tips

This curry is very hot, if you like your curries a bit milder, reduce the amount of chilli.  Rick says you can also a little coconut milk at the end to “wake up the curry”.

Whatever that means…

What to Serve with this Nyonya Chicken Curry

A Nyonya Chicken curry is often served with steamed rice or noodles, as well as a variety of side dishes and condiments, such as pickled vegetables and sambal (a spicy chili sauce).

What is Nyonya Curry Paste?

Nyonya cuisine is a unique blend of Chinese, Malay and Indonesian flavours, and the backbone of any authentic Nyonya dish is the distinctive and fragrant Nyonya curry paste.

A true labor of love, the paste is traditionally made by pounding a medley of aromatic spices and herbs, including lemongrass, turmeric, ginger and chilies, with a mortar and pestle.

The result is a rich, complex blend of flavours that can be used as a marinade, a cooking base, or even as a dip for meats and seafood.

Bellcan

But what really sets Nyonya curry paste apart from other curry pastes is the addition of belacan, which is a pungent shrimp paste that is widely used in Southeast Asian cooking.

This ingredient imparts a distinctive umami flavor that is hard to replicate, and gives Nyonya curry paste its one-of-a-kind taste.

What is the Nyonya Style?

At its core, Nyonya cuisine is all about balancing bold flavors, textures and aromas. Dishes are often characterized by their vibrant colors and a medley of ingredients that come together to create a symphony of taste. From the fiery sambal belacan to the creamy and fragrant coconut milk-based curries, Nyonya cuisine is a feast for the senses.

Is Nyonya Chinese?

Nyonya which can also sometimes be spelled as Nonya or Nonyah is a term that refers a style of cooking in South East Asia.

Nyonya cooking is a unique melting pot of Chinese, Malay and Indonesian flavours, so although not strictly Chinese, it most definitely takes some influence from Chinese cuisine.

I hope you’ve enjoyed making this Nonya Chicken curry and if you have please let me know in the comments below

Some of my other Recipes:

For a tasty quick and easy vegetarian curry, take a look at my Almond and Cauliflower Korma

Based on a super Gordan Ramsay recipe try this Spicy Beef Curry