Curry Devil (aka Kari Debal, a Festive Kristang Recipe)

What is Curry Devil?

Curry Devil or Devil Curry if you like (but NEVER Devil’s Curry!), is a tangy and spicy Eurasian curry that was traditionally made on Boxing Day using leftover Christmas roast, whatever the meat.

So this might have been turkey, duck, goose, pork, sausages, or whatever else might have been going, including any roast vegetables.

Eurasian Devil Curry, like Eurasian cuisine, is a glorious concoction of Asian spices and aromatics and European flavours. What is interesting is that it didn’t really start off life as a spicy curry. It was mildly so, but at some point in history, it got redder and spicier and got the moniker Devil.

Was that a mispronunciation of Debal, somewhere along the line? So these days, when you think of Devil Curry, you think of the fires of Hell, and that the curry is meant to be spicy. Mine is always medium spicy.

However, as roast isn’t particularly a traditional Christmas meal in Singapore and Malaysia, families have long made Curry Devil fresh on Christmas Day as the main meal, along with that other must-have dish, Kari Feng.

Curry Feng Recipe

Curry Feng is a festive Kristang recipe, or Eurasian recipe that traces its roots to the Portuguese occupation of Malacca in the 16th century.

Check out this recipe!

So what’s Kari Debal?

So kari is obviously the Malay spelling of curry. The word debal means leftovers in the local colloquial Eurasian lingo called Kristang (see below).

So Kari Debal refers to how Devil Curry came about, it’s a curry made with Christmas leftovers.

What is a Eurasian?

European +Asian = Eurasian. Got it?

While the term covers a wide range of ethnic mixes, in Singapore and Malaysia, traditionally, a huge portion of these Eurasians would have been of Portuguese descent, with their roots in Malacca, Malaysia.

The intermarriage between the settling Portuguese and the Malays, Chinese and Indians gave rise to a unique ethnic mix known as Kristang (old spelling Kristao), which also refers to the colloquial Portuguese spoken by this particular Eurasian community.

Malacca has a very rich culture with the Brits, the Dutch and the Portuguese having ruled the Sultanate at some point in its history.

But while the Dutch Square is a prominent part in the town centre, it is the Portuguese heritage that is the strongest to this day, and that has travelled throughout the Peninsula and across the causeway to Singapore.

You can read more about Malacca and its foreign influences and history on this article on LinsFood.

And if you’d like to know more about the various ethnic mixes in Singapore and Malaysia, head on over this page on this site.

Devil Curry Recipe

Let me tell you that there is no authentic Devil Curry. Each family is going to have its own take on this Christmas recipe. Mine, that I’ve been cooking for almost 40 years, is probably one of the more streamlined versions, in terms of the ingredients used. And it also leans more towards its European legacy.

Some families will add cabbage, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes or even cucumber to their curry devil. In terms of spices and aromatics, some will use lemongrass, galangal, candlenuts, mustard seeds and shrimp paste, just to name a few.

I don’t.

In fact, the only Asian spice I use is turmeric. The result is light bodied curry, with a beautiful orange hue from the chillies and the turmeric. There is a delicious tangy sharpness about it that I just love.

Over the years, I’ve dabbled with more spices, but have always come back to this version.

How to cook Kari Debal

It is a very easy recipe to cook, whether with fresh or leftover meat.

In this recipe, all we’ll be doing is:

1. Soak the dried red chillies.
2. Make a simple spice paste with the onions, garlic, ginger, chillies and turmeric (use a chopper).
3. Marinate the meat lightly.
4. Fry the paste briefly, cook the marinated chicken (or whatever meat).
5. Add the sausages and optional quartered onions and whole green chillies.

That’s it.

If you’re using leftover meat, and really making Kari Debal (you know, Christmas leftovers curry), as I do on Boxing Day, then, it’s just a case of thoroughly heating through the leftovers. But what you might have to do, is use chicken stock instead of water, as your cooked meat isn’t going to impart as much flavour to the curry as raw meat would.

If you are planning to add potatoes, whether fresh or leftover roast potatoes (no such thing in my house!), bear in mind that the spuds will absorb a lot of the liquid, so you will have to add more water.

Cook your curry devil in any pot you like: large saucepan, large skillet, wok, dutch oven, whatever you fancy, it doesn’t matter.

The Ingredients

Let’s take a super quick look, as everything is easy to come by.

The Chicken

I love using chopped up chicken portions, as opposed to a whole chicken chopped up. Did that make sense? So what I’ve got today are a couple of legs and chicken thighs.

The legs are obviously on the bone, the thighs are boneless, the latter only because I struggle to get on the bone chicken thighs and breasts. When you cook curries and stews, you want some meat on the bone for added depth of flavour in your sauce/gravy.

Chillies

Curry Devil, over the years, has developed a reputation as a spicy curry, as mentioned above. However, you don’t have to make it particularly so; its spiciness can be controlled by the type and well as number of chillies you use.

I use a combination of dried red chillies and fresh. The dried red chillies are a must, as they have a deeper fruity flavour than fresh. You can omit the fresh chillies if you like, and just go with the dried, but I like to use them for a little lift in the taste of my kari debal.

So if you want devil curry with medium heat, use the mildest chillies you can find, or reduce the number of chillies to just 2-3. Your curry will still be delicious and be more yellow than red in colour.

Dark Soy Sauce

There are different types of soy sauces on the market: light, dark and sweet are the essential ones in the South East Asian kitchen.

Dark soy sauce has been brewed for a longer time than your standard light, and deepens the flavour of curries and stews. It is not salty, like the ubiquitous light soy sauce, but sits somewhere in the middle of salty and sweet. It should be found easily next to your light soy sauce.

Vinegar

Vinegar in our debal curry is definitely a Portuguese influence. It adds an unmistakable tangy flavour. I am using white wine vinegar, but you can use any light vinegar you wish – clear or even Chinese rice vinegar will work.

This tangy taste is further enhanced by a little bit of tomato paste that we use.

How to Serve Curry Devil?

In Singapore and Malaysia, it’s part of the main Christmas Feast, with or without other sides. So you’d serve it with rice and also bread, whether that’s baguette, ciabatta, focaccia or just any fresh loaf. French baguette and curries are a match made in heaven!

You know I’m still building up this site started in Jan 2021, so you’ll have to be patient with me on the other traditional Christmas recipes like Feng and Christmas Pie.

In the meantime, here are some ideas of dishes to serve alongside Curry Devil. And naturally, a green salad is always going to be good with anything spicy.