Chicken Curry Sauce

This is a Chinese chicken saucy curry from China Modern by Ching-He Huang.

I have a real thing for Chinese and Malaysian curries, they are just so aromatic and delicious! This one is from the Modern Takeaway Favourites section of the book.

The chicken (4 sliced skinless breasts) is mixed with seasoning of salt and pepper and 1 tablespoon cornflour and stir fried in 2 tablespoons oil, then kept aside while the sauce is made. It begins by stir frying 1 chopped clove of garlic, a tablespoon grated ginger and a chopped green chilli, then adding 1 sliced onion (I used red for colour), 1 small sliced carrot and a handful of broccoli flowers. After a few minutes 500ml chicken stock is added along with 1 teaspoon turmeric, ½ to 1 teaspoon hot curry powder, 2 star anise and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar. After a little bit 1 tablespoon of cornflour mixed with 2 tablespoons water is added to thicken it a bit. The chicken is then added back in at the end just before you serve it to warm through (although I kept mine warm anyway) and sprinkled with spring onion

It was very light and I served it with plain basmati rice to keep it that way. The star anise gives the curry a wonderful fragrance and flavour. It is in no way gloopy with the cornflour, just thick enough to coat the chicken and vegetables. I’m a chilli wimp and I wouldn’t have wanted it any hotter, but it had a nice warmth and slight tingle. Will make this one again, Keith loved it too. Oh and as an added bonus our house smells lovely!