A little history on the Cape Malay community and a seriously yummy Cape Malay Chicken Curry Recipe

The Cape was colonised by the Dutch East India Company in the mid-17th century. Requiring labour, they imported people from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) as slaves.

Despite the diverse origins of the community, this group later became known as the Cape Malays. They now live mainly in the Bo-Kaap in Cape Town.

Cape Town’s slaves made up about a third of the general population at that point. There were relatively few European women in the Cape, and the slave women were mostly the ones cooking in the kitchens — and introducing Eastern spices.

They superimposed their way of cooking on what they were preparing, thus creating more interesting, spicy dishes.

Cape Malay food tempts with spicy and full-bodied flavours. Dried fruit such as raisins and apricots are often used, thus creating sweet and sour flavours that juxtapose with spices. These include cardamom, cloves, mustard seed, ginger, fenugreek, cumin and many others.

INGREDIENTS
CAPE MALAY CHICKEN CURRY
15ml oil
1 onion, diced
1 garlic clove, crushed
15ml fresh ginger, grated
500g deboned chicken thigh fillets, cubed
15ml medium curry powder
5ml ground cumin
5 ml ground coriander
1 (410g) can chopped tomatoes
125ml chicken stock
Salt and black pepper
45ml fresh cream

YELLOW RICE
200g long grain rice
500ml water
10ml turmeric
75g raisins or sultanas
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise pods
5 cardamom pods
3ml salt
30ml butter

To Serve:
15g coriander, chopped

METHOD
CAPE MALAY CHICKEN CURRY
1. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 1 minute.
2. Increase the heat and add the chicken and brown for 4-5 minutes.
3. Stir in the curry powder, cumin, coriander, tomatoes and stock. Season to taste. Cover and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
4. Stir in the cream and garnish with coriander.
YELLOW RICE
1. Place all of the ingredients, except the butter, in a pan and bring to the boil. Simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until the rice is just tender.
2. Drain off any excess liquid and stir in the butter.