Curry Chicken

Thursday, August 23, 2012

This recipe is not your regular curry recipe. I've tasted so many different varieties and heard of so many different ways of making it, that I've decided to take the best tips and put them together with my own little spin on it. I must say that the best tips came from my husbands mom and grandmother, they showed me that the way to a good curry is through marinating the meat properly, and cooking down the spices correctly. The kind of spices and ingredients you use are also very important. I use Chief Curry Powder because that is what my husbands family uses, it's also my favorite curry powder. The herbs can be found at most Asian, Latin/Caribbean or Indian markets. Try your best to use fresh herbs instead of dry, they really make the difference.
So, take your time and indulge in the process of making this dish because it will result in amazing curry every time.

Curry Chicken

1 Whole Chicken cut into pieces
Juice of two Limes
1 Tablespoon each Salt and Pepper (I use my homemade Adobo but you can use Lemon Pepper seasoning or any seasoning salt you like)
1 bunch Cilantro (wash well as these tend to be sandy from the store!)
6 sprigs Culantro (also known as Recao and Shadow Beni)
1 Celery Stalk
1/2 cup Parsley chopped coarsely
5 cloves of Garlic minced
1 bunch Scallions (also known as Green Onions)
2 Onions thinly sliced
2 Plum Tomatoes diced
2 Tablespoons Ginger minced
1 can Coconut Milk
1/4 cup Curry Powder
2 Tablespoons Cumin (also known as Gheera)
1 1/2 Tablespoons Garam Masala
1 whole Hot Pepper (optional but if you like very spicy curry, mince your favorite hot pepper and add to the pot!)
2 Teaspoons Worchestershire sauce
1 cup Water or Chicken broth
4 Potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold (peeled and cut into quarters)
1 can Chick Peas (also known as Garbanzos)
3 Tablespoons Canola Oil (you can also use vegetable oil, grapeseed oil or even coconut oil)

Rinse the chicken pieces in cold water and remove the skin (or keep the skin on if that's what you like) Place in a bowl or glass baking dish to marinate. Season the chicken pieces then squeeze the juice from the two limes right in. Set aside.
Cut the roots off of the cilantro if any and rinse well. Cut off the stems and reserve the tops for the last few seconds of cooking. Repeat this step with the parsley and scallions.
Some people prefer using the food processor for this step but I like to use the mortar and pestle.
I find the flavors really come together nicely when the ingredients are fixed this way but the food processor works nicely in a pinch.
Combine all of the herbs, garlic, celery and ginger in the mortar and smash all of the ingredients well with the pestle (or process if using the food processor) until you have a chunky paste or until you have smashed every ingredient well. Massage this mixture onto the chicken parts along with the worchestershire sauce, set aside.
Gently heat the oil in a large, heavy bottom pot. Saute the sliced onions, masala, cumin and curry powder for a few minutes on medium/low heat. Raise the heat to medium/high and carefully add the marinated chicken pieces, along with all the ingredients of the marinade. Stir the pot so that the onions are on top of the chicken and not sticking to the bottom. Cover and let simmer on medium heat for 15 minutes.
Add one cup of hot water or chicken broth and stir. Add the potatoes and the chick peas, then carefully sit the whole hot pepper in the center of the curry, cover and let simmer 30 minutes more.
Gently remove the hot pepper. Now is the time to add your reserved cilantro and parsley tops, along with the scallions and coconut milk, stirring them into the curry well. Cover and let simmer 2 minutes more.
I love to serve curry with hot Jasmine rice, brown Basmati rice, salad or Roti.







2 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks for the Curry Chicken recipe and you have good collection of variety recipes. Here am giving you a popular recipe which is hot and spicy. Use this method to make Tomato Egg Curry recipe easily at home.

Amanda said...

Thank you! I will definitely check it out :)

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