Burmese Chicken Curry

This recipe is from Sunset Magazine's Food Processor Cook Book, now out of print. These days I generally reduce the salt and the soy sauce a bit, but have included amounts as per the original recipe. What I like in particular about this recipe is that, except for the fresh chicken, I generally have all of these ingredients in the pantry. I serve this over rice or rice noodles.

• Ready In: 1 hr 30 mins
• Serves: 4-5

Ingredients

• 5  medium onions, peeled
• 5  small  dried hot chili peppers, seeded
• 1  tablespoon  coarsley chopped fresh ginger
• 10  garlic cloves
• 1 1⁄2 teaspoons salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon turmeric
• 3  lbs whole chickens, cut into serving pieces
• 1⁄4 cup  vegetable oil
• 1  lb canned tomato
• 1⁄3 cup water
• 1  tablespoon soy sauce
• 1  teaspoon lemon zest

Directions

1. Slice three of the onions and set aside.
2. Cut the remaining two onions into chunks, and process with the chile peppers, ginger and garlic, until pureed.
3. Mix together the salt and turmeric and rub the chicken with the mixture.
4. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, add the chicken and cook until it is browned, turning over once, about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken.
5. Add the sliced onions and the pureed onion mixture to the pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sliced onion is very limp.
6. Process the tomatoes with their liquid until smooth; add to the skillet along with the water, soy sauce and zest.
7. Return the chicken except for the breasts to the pan, cover, and simmer for 25 minutes.
8. Add the breast pieces and continue to simmer, covered, for about 20 more minutes, or until the meat is no longer pink.
9. Remove the chicken from the skillet to a serving dish and cover to keep warm.
10. Boil the sauce, uncovered, stirring constantly, until it is reduced to about 3 cups. Skim off and discard the fat. Spoon the sauce over the chicken.