steel balti bowl with handles full of curry with coriander

Devil Curry by Ivan Brehm

Name: Devil Curry by Ivan Brehm
Yield: 4
Ingredients: For spice rempah; Shallots; Red Chillies; Cashew nuts; Ginger; Galangal; Red Chillies; Garlic cloves; Lemongrass; Brown sugar; Turmeric; For frying; Mustard Seeds; Grapeseed Oil; Ginger; Red onion; Red Chillies; green chili pepper; Remaining ingredients; Chicken stock; Mustard Powder; Turkey; Sausages; Potatoes; Quail Eggs; Dark soy sauce; White wine vinegar; Salt; Chili Flakes; Coriander

Chef and culinary researcher Ivan Brehm, of one-Michelin-starred Nouri in Singapore, shares his recipe for a leftover Christmas dish: curry debal (devil curry, in English).

15 December, 2022

serves for

ingredients

For spice rempah

Shallots

325g small shallots peeled

Red chillies

100g long red chilis (mild)

Cashew nuts

40g

Ginger

20g peeled ginger

Galangal

20g peeled galanga

Red chillies

10-15g dried, smooth-skinned red chilies, cut to chunks and rehydrated in a small amount of warm water

Garlic cloves

4 cloves, peeled

Lemongrass

25g lemongrass stalks, washed, dried, bashed and chunked

Brown sugar

Large pinch

Turmeric

½ tsp turmeric powder or 15gr of fresh peeled turmeric

For frying

Mustard seeds

1 tpbs

Grapeseed oil

220g good quality grapeseed oil (or any other neutral cooking oil)

Ginger

30g, sliced thinly

Red onion

1 large red onion, diced

Red chillies

1 fresh red chili, roughly diced

Green chili pepper

1 fresh green chili, roughly diced

Remaining ingredients

Chicken stock

400g, chicken stock (have a little extra just in case)

Mustard powder

½ tsp Colemans mustard powder

Turkey

700g leftover Christmas roast, keep it chunky (turkey, pork belly, roast chicken)

Sausages

200g cooked sausage of your preference

Potatoes

2 large size red skin potato, cut into large cubes

Quail eggs

6-7 cooked quail eggs

Dark soy sauce

1 tbsp

White wine vinegar

30-40g white wine or sherry vinegar

Salt

Salt to taste

Chili flakes

1 tbsp Korean chili flakes

Coriander

Chopped coriander

Shallots

Julienne shallots

Try using up your leftover Christmas turkey with this spicy and comforting Kristang dish (with Malaccan-Portuguese origin), often served one or two days after Christmas, using as many leftovers as possible (in original Kristang, ‘debal’ means ‘leftover’).

Step 01

Combine all the ingredients for the rempah in a blender and blend till a uniform paste is formed.

Step 02

Pre-heat an appropriate-sized casserole dish on a high heat, add all ingredients for frying, except mustard seeds and oil. Dry-char the ingredients for 30 seconds, stirring occasionally. Add oil and allow ingredients to fry for an additional 30 seconds, managing the heat to prevent the oil from smoking. With the help of a slotted spoon or large fork, remove ingredients from pan (most of the oil will remain in the pan) - lower heat.

Step 03

Add mustard seeds, leaving them to toast in oil. Dark brown is good. Have a lid on stand-by and be careful, they will pop.

Step 04

Add pre-blended paste, stirring vigorously till all oil is incorporated. Managing the heat allows the paste to cook, on a medium/low flame, for as long as necessary till it is dark brown/red and the oil is separating from the mixture.

Step 05

Add mustard powder and chilli flakes. Stir.

Step 06

Add dark soy. Stir.

Step 07

Add stock and potatoes. Cook and reduce by 1/3. Add vinegar to taste. It should be super spicy and very tart.

Step 08

Add roast meats, sausage and eggs. Check for consistency. The meats will absorb some liquid so if things look dry at this stage, add a touch more stock. Turn the heat off and allow flavours to meld and blend for at least 2 hours.