Kay Kutuk (Terengganu Chicken Curry)

The proper name for this curry is Kerutuk Ayam/Kerutup Ayam but my family has been calling it Kay Kutuk since time immemorial. It is another standard Chinese New Year reunion dish for us and this curry is one of my Grandma's and Mum's specialties. 

It has been ages since I ate this curry and I barely remembered what it tasted like. I came across the recipe in my Aunt's recipe scrapbook and my Mum's name was written beside the recipe title. Ah, so this is my Mum's version then! 

The problem I had was, this being a family recipe, no exact measurements were recorded. So I bravely set out to cook this curry using my judgement and I wrote the measurements as I went along. Which explains why my pen smells of onions.

I also did some research on the internet to see if Mum's version is the original kerutuk and to my delight I found many Terengganu kerutuk recipes. But alas, these recipes called for "rempah kerutuk" (kerutuk spice mix) which is readily available in Terengganu. But no matter, Mum's recipe was handed down from Grandma and therefore I concluded that it must be the authentic Terengganu Nyonya version. I also checked another Mek Terengganu's recipe, K. Nor and it is slightly different. The Malay version calls for the 4 spices - cinnamon stick, cardamom, cloves and star anise. 

The kerutuk turned out beautifully and tasted just like Mum's (yay!). And it sure brought back memories of Chinese New Year past. As you know from this post, my family are egg lovers. So inevitably, we add hard boiled eggs to our Kay Kutuk. And as usual, everyone fights for the eggs.

This curry is very fragrant and tasty. I bet it will get Mum's approval and it is best served with white rice and a good dose of sambal belacan. 

Kay Kutuk (Terengganu Chicken Curry)

Ingredients :
- 4 chicken legs, cut into 2 pieces each
- 6 hardboiled eggs

Spice paste :
-4 dried chillies (soaked to soften and remove seeds if you want less heat)
- 5 fresh chillies (remove seeds if you want less heat)
- 400g shallots
- 20g lengkuas
- 30g belacan
- 1 tablespoon budu (fermented fish or use fish sauce)
- 30g gula Melaka (palm sugar)
- 50g kerisik (recipe here)
- 1 tablespoon corriander powder
- 1 teaspoon fennel powder

- 600ml coconut milk (see note)
- salt to taste
- cooking oil for frying

Method :
- blend spice paste ingredients.
- Saute the spice paste until fragrant and oil separates.
- while sauteing, if your spice paste is dry, add some coconut milk to it.
- Add chicken and mix with the spice paste. Fry until chicken turn opaque.
- Add coconut milk and eggs.
- Simmer until chicken is cooked and gravy is thick.

Note :

1. I put one packet 200ml coconut milk into measuring glass and added water until it reached 600ml. Adjust more or less water according to how thick you want your gravy to be.

2. This curry taste better after a day or two when the flavors develop further.

I am submitting this post to Malaysian Food Fest, Terengganu Month hosted by Lena of frozen wings.