What is cà ri gà?
When I say curry, you don’t think Vietnamese…you probably think Indian or Thai. However, Vietnam has its own version of curry, called cà ri. Cà ri gà in Vietnamese specifically refers to chicken (gà) curry (cà ri). It is a comforting dish that contains chicken, two different kinds of potatoes of your choice (I just happen to have russet and sweet potatoes handy), in a creamy, coconut based broth. The coconut broth comes from using both the coconut soda or coconut water and coconut milk.
Two different approaches to making cà ri gà
Even though I’ve learned so much about cooking from my mom, we still do things very differently. She does things the traditional way, and rightfully so because that’s how she was taught in Vietnam. So whenever my mom made cà ri gà (chicken curry), she starts with a whole chicken. Of course, when she brought it home, it had to be washed with salt and warm water…as always. Then she cuts it up in large pieces, leaving the skin and bones intact to marinade with the spices overnight. Just when you think the preparation is over…there’s more. To prevent the root vegetables from crumbling in the broth, she would fry them before placing them in the broth. With the chicken marinated, and root vegetables fried, now the ingredients can be assembled to simmer in a creamy coconut based broth to make cà ri gà.
I, on the other hand, am always looking for ways to speed things up, while making sure the recipes stay authentic. So to cut down the time for the cà ri gà (chicken curry) recipe, I’ve made some changes…
- Instead of using a whole chicken with bone and skin intact, I bought boneless, skinless chicken thighs. This will save time since I don’t have to cut up the chicken…yay!!! Using boneless, skinless chicken thighs will also cut down the cooking time.
- I also marinated the chicken in curry powder and spices for 1 hour (just enough time for me to get a workout in 🙂 ), yet the chicken was full of flavor.
- To avoid the potatoes falling apart in the broth, I added them 20 minutes before serving. Just to give them enough time to cook in the broth, and no more. It’s okay too if they do fall apart because it will add a little creaminess to the broth.
Is it served with rice?
You guessed it…Jasmine rice (see my post on how to cook perfect Jasmine rice) and in my husband’s case, a generous drizzle of Asian ketchup, Siracha. That is one way to serve cà ri gà . Another popular way is to serve it with noodles (similar to a soup) or a side of baguette to soak up all the creamy broth.
Cà Ri Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Curry).
Ingredients
- 4 pounds boneless, skinless chicken
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tsp pepper
- 2 tsp chicken powder
- 2 tsp fish sauce more or less depending on taste.
- 4 tsp minced lemongrass
- 2 shallot chopped
- 4 tsp curry powder
- 36 grams fresh ginger chopped
- 2 stalk fresh lemongrass with the ends cut off and tenderized.
- 2 tsp fresh garlic minced
- 2 tsp vegetable oil
- 1 can coconut soda or coconut water
- 4 cups chicken broth
- 4 medium sweet potatoes peeled and cut into medium sized chunks.
- 2 large russet potato peeled and cut into medium sized chunks.
- 4 medium carrots peeled and cut into medium sized pieces.
- 1 can of full fat coconut milk
Instructions
Instructions for the chicken marinade:
- Wash the chicken by rubbing it with salt and then rinse the salt off with warm water. Pat the chicken dry.
- Cut up the sweet potatoes, russet potatoes and carrots into large chunks and set it aside.
- Gather the chopped garlic, ginger, shallot, salt, chicken powder, fish sauce, minced lemongrass, curry powder and pepper.
- Place them in a big bowl along with the boneless, skinless chicken thighs and mix well until all the ingredients are combined. Leave it to marinade for 1 hour.
Instructions for the broth:
- Take the fresh lemongrass, cut the ends off and tenderize using a meat tenderizer, mortar and pestle or rolling pin (similar to rolling out dough). This helps release the fragrant and flavors of the lemongrass when it's cooking.
- Place the vegetable oil in the pan along with the tenderized lemongrass and let sauté for 2 minutes.
- Add the marinated chicken to the pot to sear.
- Then add the coconut soda or coconut water if you cannot find coconut soda.
- And chicken broth to the pot.
- Close the lid and let the chicken simmer until chicken is cooked through. Approximately 1.5 hours.
- Carefully open the lid and add in the carrots and cook it for 10 minutes with the lid on.
- Then add the sweet potatoes and cook with the lid closed for another 10 minutes.
- Lastly, add the russet potatoes and cook until it's soft.
- Then pour in the can of full fat coconut milk.
- Mix well and serve with a baguette, over rice or noodles.
The next time you feel like having chicken curry, give this cà ri gà (Vietnamese chicken curry) recipe a try. Leave me a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
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