After the Dutch conquest of 1641, the Eurasians remaining in Malacca were impoverished and further persecuted. Tenaciously they hung on and managed to survive and pass on the culture that had developed and continued to be enriched with each new addition, not losing its unique heritage.

But when you are poor, there is no wastage, which is reflected in the cuisine.

Hence cheap cuts of meat, recycled pickles and even the bones are reused in another guise. The supreme Eurasian example of this art is the Devil’s Curry, using up all the delicious leftovers from the one time in the year Eurasians could afford to celebrate a little. Today, this dish is also cooked at birthdays and times for celebration.

This Tessensohn recipe is more than a hundred and fifty years old and originates in Malacca, brought over by Eliza Tessensohn and passed down to her granddaughter-in-law Annie whose firstborn, Edwina, turned out to be the family’s most skilful cook. While other Devil Curries also use turmeric and dried chillies and the mustard that turns the whole red, this recipe uses serai and lengkuas in its sambal base.

There are many versions of Devil Curry, some less elaborate or with other ingredients. The housewife who produces a famous Devil Curry is long remembered.

Ingredients

Meat
1 kg chicken or chicken parts
350 grams bacon bones
500g lapcheong (Chinese sausage) and babi panggang (roast pork).

Sambal (Chili paste)
50 dried chillies, soaked and then pounded
A Chinese bowlful of shallots
8 cloves garlic
6 cm ginger, julienned
1 1/2 cm fresh kunyit or equivalent turmeric
2 stalks serai (lemon grass), bruised
2 thick slices lengkuas (galangal)

Vegetables
6 red chillis
1 large cucumber, centre seed portion removed, cut into 4 cm long strips x 4 per section, salted and dried in the sun for an hour
5 large potatoes, quartered and parboiled
2 rice bowls of cabbage leaves, cut into pieces about 4 x 3 cm long

Additional
1 tablespoon Colman's Mustard powder (or ready mixed with vinegar)
100 ml white vinegar
1 teaspoon sugar
3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
Water
salt and pepper to taste

Optional
Vienna sausage
Slices of char siew (Chinese sweetmeat)