Friday, April 04, 2008

Burmese Khowsuey

Burmese khowsuey, gravy dish served with noodlesThis recipe is the simplest I've come across so far to make Burmese Khowsuey. It was given to me by our close family friend Jaya/Cheri, Aditi's mother. The condiments are the key to this dish, so don't compromise on them! Serve with boiled egg or vegetarian noodles.

Boil 2 lb/1 Kg chicken with bone in a large pot covered with water. Add black pepper corn, bay leaves, black cardamom, cinnamon sticks.
Boil till chicken is tender and ready to shred. Save the stock. De-bone chicken, discard bones and retain stock

Grind 5-6 onions, 10 pods garlic, and 6-8 dry red chilies. Fry all till brown
Add shredded chicken and stir. Add stock. Add 1 tbsp. fish sauce (optional)

In a bowl add 2 tablespoons of gram flour and make it into a fine paste with some of the stock.
Add this to the chicken mix slowly till you get desired thickness.
As it starts to thicken turn heat low. Add one cup of coconut milk.

Khowsuey is eaten with plain egg noodles and topped with the condiments listed below. Even just a few of them will do- fried onions, fried garlic, spring onions, green chillies in vinegar is a must.

Condiments
Fried Garlic
Fried Onion
Chopped Spring onions
Chopped boiled eggs
Chopped green chillies in vinegar
Lime wedges
Ground dry shrimp powder

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

My favorite khowsuey recipe ever! Cheri gets to cook it for us everytime she visits.

Neha said...

hi...im gonna try this one tonight ... lets see how it goes... :)

Unknown said...

kindly note that Burmese Khowswey is slightly different from yours because Burmese people do not use dhania , jeera, bay leaves and gol mirch. Somewhere the recipe became Indianized. Please don't misunderstand me.. they use planty of coconut milk ( fresh ones ) . fish sause and Ngapi. I am chanda.

Ria Patel said...

Chanda, thanks for visiting my blog. Wikipedia says - "Though khowsuey originated in Burma, the dish made its way to Eastern India with Indians who migrated from Burma during World War II."
I suppose it can't be helped that are many variations of this dish and it got Indianised over the years. Mine is really only one more of those Indianised recipes.
The use of Bay leaves and peppercorns really adds to the taste of the stock, even though I'm sure its not what the Burmese may do. I don't use any jeera and only use fresh coriander leaves in the garnish. I think I will start using the fish sauce too as it really enhances the taste. What is Ngapi?

Banu Ilangovan said...

diNgapi is basically dried, pound fish, which the burmese use in several of their recipes.It has both strong and pungent smell as well as taste. The burmese consider this like how we have salt, pepper and pickles on our dining table.

Banu Ilangovan

Anonymous said...

Ngapi is processed(dried) and pound fish which is used by the Burmese in several of their recipes. It has a strong, pungent flavour as well as taste. You would find these on the tables of Burmese homes, like how you would find salt and pickles on our dining tables.

Banu Ilangovan

Anonymous said...

I first heard of khowsuey 15 years ago when my cousin served it to me.It was an amazing dish and even i tried it once...but now after all these years want to taste it again..will follow ur receipe and try it tommorow..lets see how it cgoes..will post the status.

Anonymous said...

I first heard of khowsuey 15 years ago when my cousin served it to me.It was an amazing dish and even i tried it once...but now after all these years want to taste it again..will follow ur receipe and try it tommorow..lets see how it cgoes..will post the status.