To celebrate the Cambodian New Year, a three-day celebration that starts April 14, many families make a traditional chicken curry. It takes hours to prepare.
The creamy curry is packed with spices, but it is not hot, like many others. “Our curry is different as it is very flavorful and you can taste each spice,“ said Anthony Deth, whose family immigrated from Cambodia to the U.S.
“Our mother was a very good cook, and she was patient, as it takes a long time to do this right, said Deth’s sister Monica. Their mother, Lap Tes, died last year, but she taught Monica how to cook this revered dish.
“My mother brought the heavy mortar and pestle from Cambodia, and it was her prized equipment,” Monica said.
She carries on the tradition of preparing the curry their mother would make in Cambodia. For the upcoming new year celebration, they will likely enjoy the chicken curry at their family compound in Palama.
The Deth family has not had an easy journey. In 1975, their father was killed by the Khmer Rouge and their mother and her nine children tried to escape from the suffering. One sibling died of starvation and the family moved to three refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines before landing in Boston.
“There are only about 200 Cambodians in Hawaii, maybe 20 to 30 families,” said Anthony Deth, who moved to Hawaii in 1981 after landing a job here. Most of the family followed. He is now a human resource specialist for the state Department of Education.
“There are so few of us that the Lao and Thai families have adopted us,” he jokes.
The combination of flavors in the family’s curry is unique and very enjoyable. Cambodian curry is not spicy like Thai curries, nor strongly flavored like Indian curries, but mild in heat and full of taste. The Deths eat it three different ways: with steamed rice, slices of French bread or rice vermicelli (thin noodles) mixed with fresh vegetables.
Like most stews, it is better made a day before eating so flavors have time to meld, the Deths say.
The dish is prepared in four steps: heating the spices in preparation for grinding them, blending ingredients to make curry paste, frying potatoes and then assembling the curry.
To begin, spices such as cloves, peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon and cumin are roasted in a hot skillet. The heat not only brings out the flavor in the spices, it dries them so they can be crushed by the stone mortar and pestle.
The finely ground spices are sifted, then whirled in a blender with cooked garlic and shallots, bay and kaffir lime leaves, paprika, fresh galangal and turmeric. The combination creates a fragrant curry paste.
“You can substitute a bought curry paste, but the taste will not be the same compared to the fresh one,” Anthony said.
The next step: Potatoes and sweet potatoes are deep-fried before adding them to the curry. This keeps them firmer.
“If we add them into the curry raw, they will be mushy and will break apart,” he said.
Completing the curry requires a huge stock pot, since this recipe is a celebration food that serves a crowd (at least 20).
The homemade curry paste is heated with chicken, coconut milk, lemon grass, sugar, salt, fish sauce, chicken bouillon powder and water. The potatoes are added along with onions.
Some families include eggplant or long beans. In Cambodia, the Deths would have added chicken liver, heart, gizzard and feet as well as fermented shrimp paste.
The Deths have modified the dish for American palates, but it still tastes like home and is a delicious legacy. Mother would have been proud.
CAMBODIAN CURRY (SOMLOR KARI)
By Monica Deth
2 cups canola oil
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
2 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1/2 cup curry paste (see recipe below)
4 pounds skinless chicken thighs or drumsticks, bone-in or boneless (if boneless, cut into 1-1/2-inch chunks)
6 lemon grass stems (not green tops), pounded
2 cups coconut milk (Mae Ploy brand preferred)
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
8 teaspoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder
6 cups hot water
2 onions, cut into wedges
>> Curry paste:
1 tablespoon cinnamon sticks, broken or smashed into thin shards
15 cloves
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon white peppercorns
2 star anise
1/2 teaspoon annatto seeds
8 bay leaves
10 kaffir lime leaves
2 tablespoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
10 large garlic cloves, peeled
4 shallots, peeled and cut into wedges
1/3 cup olive oil, plus more if needed
1-inch piece galangal, peeled and thinly sliced
1-inch piece fresh turmeric, peeled and thinly sliced
Make curry paste: Roast spices in a large saucepan or skillet on medium — add cinnamon, cloves, cumin, peppercorn, star anise and annatto. Heat until dried out, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add bay leaves and kaffir lime leaves. Continue cooking until crispy, about 3 to 4 more minutes.
Transfer to a large mortar and pestle. Add paprika and grind spices until very fine. Using a fine strainer, strain out large pieces. Grind those pieces again until they can pass through the strainer.
In the same skillet over medium, heat 1/2 teaspoon oil over medium. Add garlic and shallots; cook until tender, about 5 minutes.
Place in blender with 1/3 cup oil. Add ground spices, galangal and turmeric; blend until smooth, about 5 minutes on high. Stop blender and dislodge any hard ingredients. Add additional oil if needed to make a smooth paste. Set aside.
Make curry: In a deep stock pot, heat canola oil on high. Add sweet potatoes and potatoes in batches; cook until slightly browned and halfway cooked, about 5 to 10 minutes. Drain and set aside.
In another pot, heat curry paste on medium-high. Add chicken and stir continuously 5 minutes. Add lemon grass, coconut milk, sugar, salt, fish sauce, chicken powder and hot water. Cook until chicken is tender, about 25 minutes. Five minutes before dish is cooked, add potatoes and onions.
Serve hot over steamed rice, with slices of French bread or over thin noodles (rice vermicelli or Japanese somen) and raw vegetables such as mung beans, sliced red cabbage, sliced banana flower, sliced cucumber, chopped long beans or Thai purple basil. Serves about 20.
Approximate nutritional information, per serving (using bone-in chicken and not including rice, bread or noodles): 250 calories, 14 g total fat, 6 g saturated fat, 65 mg cholesterol, 600 mg sodium, 16 g carbohydrate, 2 g fiber, 6 g sugar, 15 g protein
Lynette Lo Tom, author of “Back in the Day,” is fascinated by old-fashioned foods. Contact her at 275-3004 or via instagram at brightlightcookery. Nutritional analysis by Joannie Dobbs, Ph.D., C.N.S.
