Chicken Tiyula Itum

The day before Christmas, he finally fulfilled his promise to cook for me. (He had promised this many times, even on my birthday but that didn't materialize.) I wasn't in the know as to what he would prepare, but I had a strong feeling it would be chicken curry. We both love chicken and we both love spicy foods, including curry. (And somehow whenever I eat curry, I will always remember him...)

We went grocery-shopping together. We were supposed to buy the ingredients at the wet market but it was already noontime, too late. I chopped garlic and onions, sliced green bell peppers, and peeled and cut potatoes, while he marinated the chicken in charcoaled coconut and added spices like turmeric powder, pepper, Spanish paprika. Then he went out to but fresh coconut milk. I'm not too keen on using the one in can because I am too sensitive to tastes and canned coconut milk tastes like metal. So it was a good thing we were able to use the fresh one.

He first sauteed the garlic and onions in coconut oil and later on added olive oil which he found lying somewhere. LOL. It smelled really good. It's been a while since I last cooked at home because of my busy schedule and one of  my faves is the smell of sauteed onions and garlic. Yum!!! Enough to make me drool.

Once onions are caramelized, he put in the chicken and left it to simmer over medium heat.

Then, put in coconut milk. He told me that one has to keep on stirring when the coconut milk is poured in lest the milk coagulate.

He then added a knotted bunch of lemongrass. I instantly thought of tom yum. AT THIS POINT, I COULDN'T WAIT TO EAT!!! But then we had to wait until the meat is tender then we put in the potatoes and the sliced peppers. And wait some more. My stomach was already grumbling.

We had this simple meal of chicken tiyula itum and brown rice at around 2PM. YUM YUM YUM!!!

Notes:

1. Research where to buy burnt coconut meat. Then again, maybe I can do it on my own.

2. He says that when you cook, you must put in the right amount of salt. Because a bland cook is a bad spouse. (Which caused me to fantasize about being married to this guy who most times breaks my heart but then those few times he does things for me, I feel loved.)

3. To cook brown rice properly, rice to water ratio should be 1:1.5. That worked well because we got nicely cooked brown rice, not the extra dry one my sister makes because she wouldn't listen when I tell her she needs to put it more water. Hmp. @.@ (Okay, he really surprised me there. I thought he was just trying to impress when he told me before that he was a good cook. I, the [delusional] Cooking Master Girl, do not even know that [golden] ratio.)

*********************************************

I wish we could do this more often instead of dining out which can really drain our wallets. This first time he cooked for me, just when I was feeling lonely because nobody fetched me at the airport when I came back from Thailand, I felt special for once, like I can be hopeful again that there's a future for the two of us. [But I dare not bring up the topic because he might just feel pressured again. So I will just write about my feelings. :( ]I was surprised to feel that way, because I have been travelling  by myself for years and I am used to going to the airport and coming home all by myself with no need of people to fetch me. But then, when you arrive in Manila on a December day, you will see other passengers being fetched by families. It's the holiday season, I forgot. I'm just not so into the season because I see it as just another marketing ploy towards consumerism. Mental note to self: never travel by plane in December.