All good times must come to an end and that must be what the British colonizers in Malaya were thinking exactly 55 years ago today - but that was after they took away a handsome chunk of the federation's wealth for over a century. On the other hand they must be credited for leaving behind a functioning system of governance, a (often) fair judiciary system and solid infrastructures that enable us to be a peaceful modern state that we are today. Selamat hari merdeka to all my fellow Malaysians and remember to join the virtual merdeka open house party at Babe in the city - KL for some uniquely Malaysian dishes! O.K ! Enough of history lesson and sentimentality and lets get to the more important business of food! Before driving off to the bush, J asked for a curry meal knowing very well that we won't be eating anything except for instant noodles, instant porridge and hot chocolate for a few days. It can be a challenge trying to make most curries without coconut milk, yoghurt or a packet of Japanese curry block in the pantry, fortunately I remembered this recipe that I read just days before. The result is a surprisingly creamy and delicious curry that tastes remarkably similar to our beloved Japanese curry. If you have some coconut milk powder on hand, do add a tablespoon of that into the curry for the wonderful aroma of coconut milk without having to feel too guilty about it. recipe adapted from 誰吃了老街好菜 (Who Has Eaten Good Food From The Old Street) serves 3 as a one dish meal you'll need; 2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed 1 medium size brown onion, peeled and cut into large chunks 300 g of chicken thighs, cut into cubes and marinated with ingredients marked* 1 tsp of grated ginger* 1 tsp of grated garlic* 1 tsp of light soy* 2 tbs of vegetable oil 4 tbs of curry powder (see notes) 2 tbs of light soy 1.5 tbs of sugar 1.5 l of stock corn flour solution for thickening steamed rice to serve blanched snow peas to serve notes - I used Malaysian meat curry powder, otherwise use a generic Madras curry powder instead. Cut and marinate chicken with soy and ginger, prepare the vegetables. Heat wok until smoking then saute onion until lightly charred, add chicken and continue to cook on high heat for a minute. Add curry powder and potato cubes and stir fry for a further minute, make sure everything is well coated with curry powder. Transfer the content from the wok to a clay pot, add stock, sugar and soy and simmer until potato is tender. Finally thicken the curry with a little corn flour solution, check for seasonings before serving. Ladle chicken curry over a bed of steaming hot rice and some blanched snow peas on the side. I am submitting this to The Soup Kitchen @ Deb's blog The Spanish Wok