Blend onions, garlic and ginger.
Heat oil in pot, put enough of oil to cover the base of the pan. Sautee star anise, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves around 30 seconds. Sautee sliced red onions until they fully wilt down, almost brown. That builds a deeper flavour profile. Put the blended onions mixture. Cook it out until it turns a bit golden instead of the pinkish raw onion colour, constantly stirring to avoid burning.
Mix kurma powder with some water, making a thick paste. You don’t want to put too much water, as you want to fry the spices instead of stewing it. This is what my Tok taught me in Kedah, and what my Mama always do too. Mixing the powder with water is a good precaution to avoid your spice powder from burning or clumping in the pot.
Put the mixture in the pot, cook until the oil surface. Put in wedges of potatoes, frying them for around 3 minutes. Put in the chicken. I like to stir and cook the chicken first, for around 5 minutes, because the chicken will release its juices and only then I can gauge how much water to put in. Otherwise, I might put too much water in beginning, and with the juices from the chicken, the gravy will be too runny.
Cover it with water, only enough to cover the chicken. Go easy. It’s easier to add more water then trying to make the gravy thicker.
Let it boil on medium heat. And your chicken kurma without coconut milk is done.
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