Easy 30-minute Chinese chicken curry - South China Morning Post

This is comfort food. When I was growing up in the United States, it’s a dish my paternal grandmother made often for her Saturday dinners or Sunday lunches for the family. And, when I left home, it was a familiar dish to order at inexpensive “rice plate” Chinese restaurants.

It’s something I make at home, too, although my recipe is slightly different from my grandmother’s: she didn’t use fish sauce but I do, and I prefer to add coconut milk instead of the canned evaporated milk she used. But it still tastes of home.

Curry powders vary a lot in flavour, depending on the spices used. I use the Koon Yick Wah Kee brand, which is made in Hong Kong. If you like a slightly spicy curry, and there’s not enough chilli in your brand of curry powder, add a small amount of cayenne pepper or Korean chilli flakes (gochugaru). It shouldn’t be very spicy though – the flavour should be mild and slightly sweet.

I use a fresh, small chicken for this, that's been cut into nine pieces (two drumsticks, two thighs, two wings and two breasts, plus the lower back.