Put garlic,
onion, ginger and dried shrimp paste into a blender container, cover and
blend until smooth, adding 1 tablespoon of peanut oil if necessary.
Heat remaining
oil and fry blended ingredients for 5 minutes.
Add chicken and
continue to fry, stirring constantly.
Add chili
powder, salt and thin coconut milk.
Simmer until
chicken is tender, adding a little hot water if mixture becomes too dry.
Add thick
coconut milk, return to heat and bring slowly to the boil, stirring
constantly to prevent mixture from curdling.
Mix chick pea
flour with a little cold water to a smooth cream, add to curry and cook
for a further 5 minutes uncovered (there should be a lot of gravy).
Just before
serving, cook noodles in a large saucepan of boiling salted water until
just tender, about 6 minutes.
Pour cold water
into pan to stop noodles from further cooking, then drain in a colander.
Serve noodles
in a large bowl and the curry in a separate bowl.
Each person
takes a serving of noodles, ladles on a generous amount of the curry and
sprinkles various accompaniments over the top.
Note : A
popular Burmese dish that particularly appeals to Westerners, this is a
mild curry with lots of gravy. It is ladled over a bowl of egg noodles
and served with a number of accompaniments with contrasting flavors.