A Really Easy Chicken Curry Recipe

Spurred on by the purchase of some shiny stainless steel bowls on Pali market yesterday (for some reason stainless steel shops in India have the same effect on me as stationery shops), I was inspired to cook a curry. But I didn't want to cook anything too taxing - that would require a million ingredients and hours of marinating time (i.e. a 'proper' curry).

I found an old recipe that I had actually brought over from the UK - for Chicken in a Sweet Red Pepper Sauce - and thought 'that will do'! This recipe calls for minimum effort as you basically put most of the ingredients into a food processor to make the sauce - then add it to the chicken. Not only is this chicken curry simple to make - but it is relatively low fat and healthy.

So here's the recipe and pictures with the cooking instructions....a happy Wednesday to you!

Chicken in a red sweet pepper sauce (Lal Masale Wali Murghi)



Serves 4

1kg skinned chicken parts (I used just breast)
110g onions, peeled and coarsely chopped
3 gloves garlic, peeled
1 inch/2.5 cms cube ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
25g blanched slivered almonds (in India, buy them whole, leave them to soak in boiling water for an hour and peel.  Leave whole)
350g red sweet peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped (I used regular red peppers, completely fine!)
1 tbsp ground cumin (that's a tablespoon)
2 tsps ground coriander
1/2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
7 tbsp vegetable oil (I used half this amount)
225 ml water
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Make sure your chicken is divided into parts - thighs, drumsticks etc.  Breasts should be divided into four parts.  However, I used pure chicken breast for this and it was fine.  Indians usually prefer to eat on the bone as the bones impart a better flavour to the sauce during the cooking process.

Combine the onions, ginger, almonds, peppers, cumin, coriander, turmeric, cayenne and salt in a food processor or blender (or in my case, a mini-chopper).  Blend, pushing down with a rubber spatula whenever you need to, until you have a fine paste.

The the oil in a large, wide and preferably non-stick pan and heat over a medium-high flame.  When hot, pour in your paste and stir fry for 10-12 minutes or until you can see the oil forming tiny bubbles around it.

Put in the chicken with the 225 mls of water, lemon juice, and black pepper.  Stir to mix and bring to the boil.  Cover, turn the heat to low and simmer gently for 25 minutes or until the chicken is tender. Stir a few times during the cooking period and add more water if the sauce sticks.

Serve with basmati rice, or roti and a curried veg side dish of your choice!

My veg, ginger garlic and almonds all ready for blending.

The blended paste should look like this (I used a mini-chopper)

In the end I didn't need my silver mixing bowls! But I put the sliced chicken into one just to show you...professional eh?

Fry off the paste - if you only use half the amount of oil as I did, you will have to make sure it doesn't stick.

Indian Lemons! (Nimbu) and the excellent contraption that looks like an ice cream scoop to get the juice out!

Add the chicken, water & lemon juice to the paste

My new bowls ;)

Simmer for 25 mins or until the chicken is tender.

Et Voila! Served here with basmati rice and a glass of Sula Chenin Blanc.  Yum.

Mincing Beef - A Chilli Con Carne Recipe

I mentioned in my last food blog (about peeling almonds for Lamb Rogan Josh) that I wasn't one for posting recipes.  However, that particular post got me thinking about how food preparation can vary in India compared to in the UK. Or how difficult it can be. And that perhaps writing about making dinner in Mumbai, would provide some useful tips for other expats (whilst also showing the folks back home some of the lengths one may have to go to make non-Indian dishes!).  

So here we have my favourite Chilli Con Carne recipe by Jo Pratt, which contains spices other than chilli - a subtle amount of cumin and coriander - as well as Brit favourites such as Worcester sauce and an Oxo cube. All the ingredients for this dish are available on Pali Market in Bandra and probably at Nature's Basket (branches around the city).  Mr Jules also made a side salad to go with the Chilli - but I will talk about preparing salads in another post. A whole other story!

Lean tenderloin/undercut from Joseph's in Bandra

On the same theme of having to peel almonds for my Rogan Josh (gosh, such an inconvenience!), this blog is about beef - and mincing it (or grinding it if you are from the US).  You can simply not (yet) get UK supermarket style minced beef in India. Don't forget that the majority of Hindu Indians do not eat beef anyway, so it can be quite difficult obtain it, let alone get it minced.  You can buy minced beef from my favourite butchers -  Joseph's in Bandra - but it is too finely ground for a majority of western recipes. Such as Bolognese sauce or beef-burgers.  I think it is probably more 'Keema' in style.  

Hence why we have invested in a very handy little machine for grinding meat ourselves (available on Amazon, follow this link - you may have to pay for international delivery).  Once you have worked out how to put it together, the rest is easy.  You simply pass the beef through the machine whilst vigorously turning the handle, ending up with the sort of perfect mince that you will find at a supermarket back home.  And because the beef from Joseph's is so lean (ask for 'tenderloin/undercut'), you will end up with a nice low fat bit of mince.

All of this does require a little more effort than usual, but now Mr Jules and I have the ability to enjoy the perfect home-made Spag Bol, Chilli or Meatballs.  Yum.

My mincer delivered by Amazon - very easy to operate and it hasn't yet faltered after many many uses.

Now that we've got that sorted, here is the recipe.  I love the bit about adding the wine and then pouring yourself a glass!

Ingredients (serves 6 - 8)

2 tbsp olive oil

2 chopped onions

2 crushed garlic cloves

1 kg lean minced beef

2 glasses red wine (Sula is fine!)

2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

3 tbsp tomato puree

2 red chillies thinly sliced or 3-4 tsp dried chilli flakes

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1 stick cinnamon

Good shake Worcestershire Sauce

1 beef stock cube

Salt and pepper

2 x 440g kidney beans, drained

1 large bunch coriander leaves, roughly chopped 

Method

1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy based saucepan and fry the onion and garlic until softened.  Increase the heat and add the mince, cooking quickly until browned and breaking down and chunks of meat with a wooden spoon.
2. Pour in the red wine and boil for 2-3 minutes.  While waiting, pour a glass for yourself.
3. Stir in the tinned tomatoes, tomato puree, fresh chilli or chilli flakes, cumin, ground coriander, cinnamon, and Worcestershire sauce and crumble in the stock cube.
4. Season well with salt and pepper, bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and cook over a gentle heat for about 50 minutes to an hour.  Stir occasionally until the mixture is rich and thickened.
5. Add the kidney beans and fresh coriander.  Cook for a further 10 minutes uncovered.
6. Taste and add seasoning as you feel necessary before removing from the heat.
7. Ideal served with plain basmati rice and wedges of lime.  You can also try it with french bread, guacamole and soured cream, jacked potatoes etc etc.

Tip

This dish is even tastier a day or two after cooking when the flavours have developed and the texture becomes richer.

Frying off the onions and garlic

Browning the hand-minced beef before throwing in a glass of red wine (whilst polishing off a glass yourself)

After adding the tomatoes, add the spices and cinnamon stick (this one is from a spice farm in Goa!)

The finished product.  Serve with fluffy basmati rice and a side salad

Sprinkle with freshly chopped coriander (which I forgot)

All the ingredients are available locally (except perhaps for Oxo cubes
which I brought from the UK - but you can discount it from the recipe anyway, as the
undercut beef from Joseph's is so beefy you won't need it.

Mr Jules's simple avocado and spring onion salad - will write about preparing salad another time.