Authentic Home-Made Chicken Curry: Recipe

Hello!

Today I’m very excited to be sharing with you my own recipe. I learnt how to cook through trial and error, and this is my most-cooked dish. I like to cook freestyle, by taste, but have tried to quantify this as best as I could.

Preparation time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients

2 baby chickens, chopped and cleaned
2-3 Tbsps of Cooking Oil (Sunflower or vegetable)
A pinch of Panch Poran (mixed whole spices)
1 tsp (heaped) garlic, peeled and finely grated
1 tsp (heaped) ginger, peeled and finely grated
1 large onion (2-3 small onions), diced
1 tomato, chopped
1 Tbsp tomato puree
1-2 tsps salt (to taste)
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp chilli powder (add more or less for your preferred spiciness)
1 tsp ground coriander powder
1 tsp ground cumin powder
1/4 tsp Garam masala powder
Sprinkling of chopped coriander, fresh or dried

Method

1. Put a pan on the stove on a medium heat and add the oil. (Safety tip: Ensure there’s no water in the pan prior to adding the oil or there will be hot oil spitting.)
2. Once the oil has heated up, add the panch poran, garlic and ginger. Stir for a minute, then add the diced onions and chopped tomato.
3. Turn the heat down to low, place the lid on the pot, and let the onions soften. This usually takes around ten minutes but keep an eye on it to ensure it doesn’t burn.
4. Then add the tomato puree, salt, ground cumin, ground coriander, turmeric, chilli and garam masala powders. Let the powders cook and simmer for five minutes. Stir to mix it all together.
5. Drain any excess water from the chicken, and add all the chicken to the pan. Stir to ensure all the chicken is covered, and place the lid back on. Keep the cooker on a low heat, which helps to produce soft, succulent chicken.
6. Stir the chicken regularly so it doesn’t burn, and cooks evenly. (Be careful when stirring, so as not to break all the pieces.)
7. After twenty minutes, the juices should flow from the chicken. Turn up the heat to medium. Wait for the juices to run clear and for the oil to rise to the top of the pan, that’s when you know you’re almost done. Add the chopped coriander and stir.
8. Replace the lid, and simmer on medium-low heat for five to ten minutes.
9. Then let it come to the boil and we’re done! Garnish with fresh coriander.

This can be served with rice or flatbread, i.e roti, chappati, paratha.

Do let me know if you try this recipe out and please don’t hesitate to contact me should you have any further questions.

Love and peace,

Latifa xx