Vietnamese chicken curry - ca ri ga

1. I first had this type of curry in Boise, ID, where many Vietnamese (and other nearby countries) refugees have settled and started a few restaurants. It's not really like the nearby curries of SE Asia or even other curries in Vietnamese cuisine. I suspect that it's highly influenced by Japanese curry, which was actually influenced by British curries. The use of potatoes and carrots along with curry powder suggest this. Even if this is not so, it's much more like a Japanese (which I don't really like) or British curry with the addition of coconut milk, fish sauce, and some SE Asian herbs.
1. Cut the chicken into serving pieces.

2. 2. In a food processor, combine the lemongrass, shallots, ginger, garlic, sugar, chilies, pepper, curry paste and powder, and fish sauce. Process to a very fine paste. You can simply chop everything finely too as the paste and powder are already finely ground.

3. 3. Heat 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the potatoes and brown on all sides. Drain the potatoes on paper towels.

4. 4. Remove all but 3 tablespoons of the oil from the Dutch oven. Scrape the paste from the chicken and reserve. In batches to avoid crowding, add the chicken pieces to the pan and brown on all sides. Remove the browned pieces to a clean platter.

5. 5. Heat the 3 tablespoons of oil in the Dutch oven and add the paste and bay leaves to the oil. Stirring to keep the paste from burning, fry for about two minutes before adding the onions. Continue to stir and cook the onions until they are lightly browned. Add tomato puree bring to a boil. Add salt to taste, reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Add carrots and potatoes and simmer another 20 minutes.

6. 6. Add the coconut milk to the curry and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 15 minutes.

7. 7. Add cornstarch to a little water and mix well. Add to simmering curry. Cook for about 3 minutes till thickened.

8. 8. Serve in shallow bowls with rice or French bread.

9. Tips
I could not find any Vietnamese curry paste so I subbed Thai Red Chile paste. The powder is available, but I just used my garam masala I made - Punjabi style - probably not that authentic along with some turmeric

10. The curry powder and paste could likely be left out, and you could add the primary spices and herbs yourself to make a paste. From a bottle of Vietnamese Curry paste I found the ingredients are (curry-what this is not an ingredient?, turmeric, chili, cloves, ginger, cumin, anise, cinnamon, allspice, garlic, soy oil). I actually don't see any reason to even use the paste - just use the powder. Thai Massaman curry paste is probably another very similar mixture (its ingredients are almost like all the spices and herbs in this recipe!)

11. You can sub other items for the carrots and potatoes, or add to them. Sweet potatoes are one possibility, as are plantains. Green peas are often added.

12. I think that this can be simplified much and the flavors not really affected if you don't brown the chicked or potatoes. The onions are the exception, as these do add flavor.