Sri Lankan chicken curry

I'm not much of an expert on Sri Lankan food (or knowledgeable at all, really!). I'm still a novice when it comes to cooking dishes from this region, but my first attempt at cooking a Sri Lankan chicken curry turned out pretty nice. I served it alongside kottu roti (stir fried bread and vegetables, recipe to follow), which tends to be served on it's own as a tasty fast food meal. But I was greedy to try both!

Injira, lentil wot, and chicken wot

	I've never tried cooking Ethiopian food before, although I've enjoyed eating it for many years. These recipes, for lentil stew, chicken and egg stew, soured flatbread, and a simple salad, can be cooked together to give you a balanced, healthy and delicious family meal. If you're short of time, however, cook just one of the stews and serve with rice or couscous and salad.
The recipes are not my own - you can find them using the links below: Doro wot (Ethiopian chicken stew) Lentil wot Injira

Chicken and eight vegetable stew

This is a great example of my style of cooking: nothing too precise or difficult. Use what you got, bung it all together, tastes great every time. I came across this idea in a cookbook dedicated to western-inspired Japanese food, known as yoshuko. Typical yoshuko dishes would be hambaagaa (a meat patty, grilled and served with soy sauce and grated daikon, as opposed to the western ketchup and pickle), or a pizza topped with white miso instead of tomato sauce.

Sweet and sour chicken curry

Sometimes you just want a take-away style chicken curry, preferably one you can pull together very quickly from just a handful of ingredients. Voila!

Hainanese chicken rice

	Hugely popular in Singapore, as well as much of Malaysia, chicken rice is true comfort food. Chicken is poached slowly until it is just cooked and still very tender, then served with rice cooked in the chicken fat and some of the poaching stock, and garnished with cucumber and chilli sauce. Finally, the stock is used to make a simple accompanying chicken soup.

Ayam rendang (chicken rendang)

This way of preparing chicken in coconut is popular all over Malaysia. If you wanted to be really authentic, you could serve it garnished with a few deep fried anchovies (ikan bilis), which the Malaysians love.

Malay chicken curry

With Malaysia's long history of immigration from India, it's not surprising that curry has become a very popular dish in Malaysia. This is a wet chicken curry, meaning it makes a lot of sauce. The coconut milk adds a hint of sweetness, and the peanut butter adds even more richness. Serve alongside bowls of rice and a vegetable side dish for a filling and yumtastic meal. This dish is also hugely popular served with roti canai (delicious oily and flaky flatbreads).

Most versions of this recipe (kari ayam) are simpler than mine and use curry powder, omiting the shrimp paste, kaffir lime leaves, peanut butter, lemongrass and turmeric. Sometimes cinnamon and star anise are also added. Malaysian curry powders (like Baba's brand) taste different than Indian ones, and can be hard to find in some places (you need a decent Asian grocery store). I've included a variation below, but don't be afraid to try different combinations until you find your favourite.

Kaukswe hin (Burmese chicken and noodles)

I've never been to Burma, but if this curry is anything to go by, the food must be worth the trip. Kaukswe hin is one of those great dishes that you can easily adapt to each diner's palate - serve chilli sauce and lime wedges on the side so they can be added to taste at the table. Other popular garnishes include deep fried onions and chopped fresh coriander.

Khao sawy AKA khao soi (Chiang Mai curried noodles)

Chiang Mai was my first experience of Thailand. I arrived at dinner-time, after 16 hours of travel, disoriented, exhausted and hungry. Half an hour later I was sitting amid the cacophony of a night market, slurping a bowl of noodle soup. Even now, years later, I still have such fond memories of Chiang Mai, and Chiang Mai street food.

Filipino adobo

This classic dish from the Philippines involves cooking meat (normally chicken and pork) in a mixture of vinegar, soy sauce, bay leaves, black pepper and garlic. For the best results, try and get pork with a decent fat content (for this recipe, lean is not your friend). It's not healthy. But it is tasty.

Ayam goreng (fried chicken)

Every country in the world seems to have their own version of fried chicken. The Malay version par-cooks the chicken in a spice paste prior to deep-frying, but for those of us unused to deep-frying anything, I've adapted the recipe to be baked in the oven. You lose the crispy skin cooking it this way, but sometimes life is pain. Or something. Anyway, back to the chicken. Serve this with nasi kuning (yellow rice), and a vegetable dish or two, and you've got a lovely Sunday lunch. In the picture: ayam goreng, nasi kuning, terung sambal, and acar.

Cardamon chicken curry

This Northern Indian dish blends cardamon and cinnamon to delicious effect and makes a very thick sauce, perfect for scooping up with hunks of warm naan bread. Serve with a vegetable dish or two for a perfect better-than-take-away meal.

Traditionally this sort of dish would be made with diced chicken, but I prefer the extra flavour of meat cooked on the bone. If you want to use diced chicken, reduce the cooking time and the amount of water added by half.