For the majority of my life, every time I’ve needed chicken I automatically and habitually grabbed a pack of chicken breasts. However this year I’ve discovered what I’ve been missing by ignoring chicken thighs! Cooking chicken on the bone adds so much additional flavor to your dish. And chicken thighs are delicious!

My husband always told me that he didn’t like dark meat. Since I’ve recently made a habit of using thighs in most of our curry dishes, he was surprised to find out he loves the flavor as well. An added bonous: chicken thighs are extremely cheap in comparison to their white meat counterpart.

I definitely recommend using thighs in this dish. The longer it simmers, the better. The meat will fall off the bone with a light touch of your fork.

I love a lot of spice, so I’ve included lots of chili in this recipe. If you want to tone down the heat, feel free to half the suggested amount.

Recipe for Malaysian Style Chicken: 

4 Chicken Thighs
1/4 White Onion (Diced)
1-2 Cloves of Garlic
6 Hot Red Chillies
1 Lemongrass stalk (Sliced)
1 Teaspoon of Ginger
1/2 Teaspoon of Turmeric
1 Cinnamon Stick
1 Star Anise
2 Kaffir Lime Leaves
1 Can of Coconut Milk
1/2 Cup Chicken Broth
Teaspoon of Brown Sugar
Fish Sauce
Lime Wedges
Peanut Oil

Instructions for Malaysian Chicken: 

1: Preheat cast iron over medium-high heat. Sprinkle Peanut oil into the pan, and place your chicken thighs (skin side down) into the pan. Sear off chicken thighs until the skin is golden. Remove your chicken from the pan and set aside.

2: Add your onion, ginger, garlic, lemongrass stalk, chillis to a food processor. Freehand additional peanut oil. Blend/Pulse until you have a paste (add more oil if required).

3: Reduce your stove to medium heat, and spoon your paste into the frying pan. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes, until it smells fragrant. Then add your lime leaves, star anise, and cinnamon stick. Add turmeric. Continue frying for 3 minutes.

4: Add coconut milk, chicken broth, brown sugar. Stir. Place chicken back in the pan, and cover. Reduce heat and simmer for at least half an hour (I usually leave it for a couple of hours).

Serve with fresh lime wedges and fish sauce over rice.

Enjoy!