Chef Melba, of The Mansion at The Majestic, Malacca, Malaysia, says this curry improves with time, so prepare the dish the night before or even a day or two ahead of serving.
For the garnish
1
White onion, peeled and cut into wedges
5 cm
Ginger knob, peeled and cut into strips
2
Red chillies, sliced
4
Potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
For the rempah
20 g
Dried chillies, cut into short lengths and soaked to soften (Main)
120 g
Shallots, peeled (Main)
25 g
Galangal, peeled
20 g
Ginger, peeled (Main)
30 g
Lemongrass, bulbous end only (Main)
125 ml
Oil
To finish
1 kg
Pork ribs, or chicken, cut into small pieces (Main)
To prepare the garnish, heat a little oil in a heavy-based pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, ginger and chillies and stir-fry until the onion is softened, then remove from the pan and set aside. Add the potatoes and stir-fry until golden brown. Take out and set aside.
To prepare the rempah, drain the chillies and place in a food processor with the remaining ingredients and blend to a fine paste.
Using the same pan as the garnish, heat 125ml oil over a medium heat. Add the rempah and stir-fry until fragrant. Add the pork ribs or chicken and stir-fry to coat evenly with the rempah, then cover the pan and cook for 15 minutes.
Add 1.75 litres of water and stir well. Cover the pan again and cook over a medium heat for an hour or until the meat is tender, then stir in the sugar, salt and vinegar. Add the cooked garnish and cook until the sauce is reduced and thick.
Serve hot with rice or bread. The Majestic also serve it with stuffed pickled chilli or fried salted fish.
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