Crafts and Life

All Asian countries have their own brand of curry, and all are different. The curries we are most familiar with in the UK are Indian and Thai, and Burmese ones contain elements of both while being distinctly their own. Simple and tasty in the base, but as was often the case in Burma, it's the accoutrements that raise its game to a higher echelon.

It's economical but tastes rich.

Ingredients

1chicken (weighing about 1.5 kg/3 pounds), legs and breast removed and skinned, then legs split into thighs and drummers (DIY or ask the butcher, but you need the carcass and wings as well)
1 tablespoon turmeric
4 tablespoons light oil, plus a bit more for frying
a couple of handfuls of rice vermicelli noodles
3 teaspoons chilli flakes
3 red chilies, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
40 g/1 1/2 ounces gram flour
1 400 mL tin of coconut milk
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
400 to 600 g/13 ounces to 1 lb 2 oz egg noodles (depending on the number of people)
2 to 4 eggs, hard-boiled and sliced
4 to 5 spring onions, green part only, thinly sliced
3 to 4 limes, cut into wedges
Salt

Method

Put the pot, big enough to hold the whole chicken, on a high flame with a splash of oil. Brown the carcass and wing, then pour about 2 L water over to cover, bring to the boil, skim and reduce to a simmer.

Mix the turmeric with an equal amount of salt they sprinkle it all over the breasts and legs. After 20 minutes simmering drop these into the stock, bring back to the boil, then simmer fast for 15 minutes. Take out the breasts and put on a tray to cool, keeping the legs and wings in there for another 12-ish minutes, before transferring them to the cooling tray, too. Leave the stock busily reducing away and shred the meat once it's cool enough.

Heat some oil in a wide pan – around 3 cm/1 1/4 inches, enough for shallow frying. When it is really hot, drop in the vermicelli, put them around for the few seconds until they have puffed up then turn the oil off, use a slotted spoon to take them out of the pan and drain on kitchen paper. Once the oil has cooled down a bit, put a low heat underneath it and tip in the chilli flakes. Swirl for three or four minutes, taking care not to burn them, then pour the chilli oil into a bowl to serve with the noodles later.

Heat the pan again, this time with around 2 tablespoons of oil, and fry the chilli, garlic and onion from a few minutes, then add the shredded chicken and stir and fry for a couple more minutes. Strain on the yellow stock, which should now be about 1 L/1 3/4 pints. Mix the gram flour with 3 tablespoons of water to a smooth paste. When the stock is simmering, stir in the gram flour paste, then the coconut milk. Cook the egg noodles as per packet instructions. After about 10 to 15 minutes more of the curry gently simmering, have a look at the consistency: it shouldn't be too thin, but this is supposed to be wet curry. Turn off the heat and season with fish sauce and salt.

Serve in shallow bowls: a pile of warm egg noodles with the curry ladled over the top, and sliced eggs, spring onions, crispy noodles, chilli oil and lime to embellish.

Serves 6 to 8 – taken from Bought, Borrowed and Stolen recipes and knives from a travelling chef by Allegra McEvedy