Khao Suey

I remember eating Khao Suey in some Asian type restaurant which served even Burmese food in Bangalore, years ago. Seemed like a lot of work to eat, forget the cooking. But it was totally worth it. I was mostly fascinated by the assembling of the main dish in the big bowl which contained the curry and noodles and then the little bowls around it, waiting to be picked from. They mostly contained garnishes and accompaniments like chopped coriander, browned garlic, caramelized and crispy onions, chopped green chilles, and the likes. It seemed like the perfect dinner when there's a nip in the air. Now there was no nip in the air here as such, even with the temperature drop. Only dust, as always. But since my successful attempt with Thukpa, I figured I'll give Khao Suey a shot too. I looked up various recipes and strangely all of them were different from one another. One said to make a ground paste for the curry base, one said to just use cumin and turmeric, you know, such things. So I went ahead and mixed and matched like I do with my wardrobe. Thankfully it turned out better than my experiments with my wardrobe.

Note: Cook 1 packet of egg or veg hakka noodles as per instructions on the packet, and keep aside.

Ingredients for chicken marinade:
500 gms boneless chicken cut into bite size pieces
1 tbsp ginger garlic paste
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli paste or powder
1 tsp salt

Method:
1. Marinate chicken in above mentioned ingredients for 3-4 hours or overnight.

Ingredients for curry/sauce/soup base:
1 tsp cumin seeds
2 dried red chillies
2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp red chilli paste or powder
1 tetra packs of coconut milk
Salt to taste

Method:
1. Head oil and add cumin, turmeric and dried chillies.
2. Add chicken with marinade along with chilli paste and a cup of water and cook for 7-8 mins or till done.
3. Add the coconut milk and let it bubble up before you take it off the heat.

Garnish:
1. Heat oil and saute sliced garlic till golden brown.
2. To the same oil add finely sliced onions, say 2 of them. Saute till dark brown.
3, Chop coriander, green chilles.

Place the cooked noodles in a wide serving bowl, pour the chicken curry over it and top with the garnishes. You could replace chicken with mushrooms and other vegetables as well.

My flatmates also liked this means it's a hit.