Chicken Curry, Suggestions please... Options

[Rushina]

I need to make a Chicken Curry for a friends party tomorrow night. I want to do something different from what I usually do, anyone got any suggestions. I have 2 Kgs of precut chicken in my fridge.

I usually do the following chicken curries

Normal dhania walla homestyle chicken curry with khada garam masalla
Chilli, black bean, chicken (not an option as the menu is Indian)
Indonesian Pandang Chicken (great recipe and simple to make)
Cashew / Peanut Chicken (will probably end up doing this is I do not come up with something better)
Korean Mushroom Chicken
Thai Chicken Curry

Rushina

[Tryska]

you want the recipe i used this past weekend?

[arnab]

[Tryska]

well i didn't know if that's what she meant or not.



anyways this is what i did:


2 tbsps butter
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1in piece ginger
1 habanero chili
1/2 tsp rock salt
1tsp ground cumin
1tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
1 stick cinnamon broken in half
1 bay leaf
3 curry leaves
1 15oz can tomato sauce
1.5 lbs chicken (breasts cut for stir-fry)
1 pinch garam masala

Mash rock salt, garlic and ginger together. Dice onion, add garlic-ginger paste and chop habanero very small.


Melt butter in saucepan, add above ingredients and sautee til onions are soft, add cumin, coriander, turmeric, cinnamon, bay leaf, and curry leaves, sautte til spices are aromatic. Toss in chicken and coat with onions and spices, when chicken turns white, add tomato sauce and half-can of water if necessary. Simmer on medium heat for 30 minutes. Check seasoning and correct if necessary, add garam masala. Drop heat to low and simmer an additional 30 minutes.



(normally i would add a 1/2 tsp chili powder along with the other spices, but since i've started using fresh habanero, i haven't needed any additional heat)

This post has been edited by Tryska: Aug 13 2004, 12:01 AM

[Susan]

Madhur Jaffrey has one which involves cooking the chicken with some masalas, then separately grinding up dill and spinach and adding the resultant green sauce near the end. It's very good, but unfortunately I can't remember what it's called or which book it came from. Maybe this will jog someone else's memory.

[Tryska]

how about a chilli chicken or a chicken 65 (minus the red)


or CTM!

[arnab]

[Rushina]

I just saw Butter Chicken being cooked at the famous Moti Mahal on a local TV show, am craving it now! I think I will try it out post Shraad. Whats your secret /favourite Chicken Curry Recipe? Lets all add to our repotoires!

Rushina

[ajit]

Ingredients:
Chicken breast
One packet of Parampara butter chicken masala

Recipe:
Follow instructions on the back of the packet

[arnab]

allow me to post a recipe that is slightly more complicated than ajit's (college students take note):

ingredients:

6 pieces chicken--bone-in
1/2 tspn each red chilli powder, turmeric, commercial curry powder
1 cup yogurt
1 cup ketcup
oil
gas mask

prep:

mix yogurt and ketchup thoroughly
heat some oil
fry the chicken pieces till 1/2 done
heat the rest of oil
put on gas mask
throw in powdered spices--fry for a minute or so
throw the chicken back in, stir to coat
add the yogurt/ketchup mixture--stir to mix thoroughly
cover, cook on medium till done.

if you want to get fancy you can add some garam masala towards the end and garnish with dhania.

don't knock this till you've tried it; this recipe came to me in my early grad student days from an aunt in delhi who is a prodigious cook.

[Ammini]

[Anjali]

I made chicken vindaloo for the first time from the link that Vai had posted ealier. And kiddos and hubby seem ecstatic about it. Plan to try some other recipes from here soon.

Thanks Vai.

[Nichiro]

[waaza]

I cooked a chicken dish last night for a friend just back from Canada. It was based on a kinda-pasanda recipe.

Prepare chicken breasts by cutting almost in half from the side, and unfold to form a fillet about ¼ inch thick.
Press lightly to flatten it.
Sprinkle with a little freshly ground salt and black pepper.
Place in the middle of the fillet some lightly cooked spinach.
Roll up the stuffed fillet and pin with a small bamboo skewer.
Prepare a marinade with:
yogurt
a touch of cream
two cloves garlic, minced
minced fresh ginger
black cardamom powder
black cumin (not kalonji) powder
pinch of mace.
Marinate chicken for as long as possible, but at least a couple of hours.
Prepare gravy with golden fried onions, garlic, ginger and fresh red chilli. (Cook together for at least 15 minutes)
Add some plain yoghurt a tablespoon at a time, to form a sauce.
Add more chilli powder to taste, then some tomato purée.
Add ground almonds, and cook sauce for 10 minutes, ensuring there is always enough liquid present, adding more water if required.
Keep to one side when done.
In a frying pan, add a little oil/ghee, then add the chicken fillets, two at a time, until browned.
Remove browned chicken, then add more chicken, brown, and remove, until all are browned.
Put all the browned stuffed chicken fillets into a flattish pan, removing the bamboo skewers.
Add the sauce, and heat through.
When about to serve, add some double cream, and heat to just bubbling.
Serve on a plate, cut in half on the bias to show spinach filling.

It turned out very well, the chicken was very moist due to the spinach; without the spinach I find it can become a little dry.

cheers
Waaza

This post has been edited by waaza: Sep 25 2005, 06:13 PM

[gingerly]

this isn't a curry but it's very fine!
'surkh murgh' means 'red' apparently.

1 chicken(1-1 1/2 kg)
1 powdered nutmeg
salt to taste
2 tsp chilli powder
2 medium potatoes,halved
1/4 cup ghee
2-3 whole red chillis
chopped fresh coriander to garnish

rub the chicken inside and out with the nutmeg and set aside for an hour.
rinse,drain and wipe the chicken dry and refrigerate uncovered for half an hour ,(to dry out further i guess),then rub in the chilli powder and salt.
heat the ghee and stir fry the potato and whole red chillis for a couple of minutes.drain and set aside.raise the heat ,put in the chicken and sear as evenly as possible.
add the potatoes,cover and cook on lowered heat stirring occasionally until done.serve garnished with freash coriander.

this was a trial run so i used some chicken legs rather than a whole chicken,and more potatoes with the skin on,but it's definitely going on the regular menu.the meat is very fragrant but not identifiably nutmeggy at all.as for food fried in ghee really excellent.

[seajay]

I read up on that recipe last night after you mentioned it, since I just got her book recently myself (& it looks so full of good things). My questions though --

chicken is skinned I presume? or no?

one WHOLE nutmeg to be powdered?

I have a little over 1 KG of boneless skinless chicken thighs in the fridge that I'd like to prepare without too much fuss for tonight , and some tiny (really -- almost cherry sized) new potatoes -- good candidates for this you think? I thought I might try it in the oven after the initial searing business.

ed to fix another dad gum typo, so as not to seem to be cooking slow nocturnal prosimians instead of spuds

This post has been edited by seajay: Sep 29 2005, 03:04 AM

[gingerly]

skinned chicken cj,just about 600gms of chicken drumsticks and weight made up to 1kg with potato.i used one generous tsp of powdered nutmeg that is pretty fresh and intense.sliced the potatoes (size 150gms ish)into 6 pieces,sauteed till just translucent around the edges and added them to the pot when the chicken was nearly done.i used a cast iron pot so was pretty sure they would cook even after i turned the heat off.
use ghee!
does your copy of the book have some blank pages too?

[seajay]

[gingerly]

that's the book cj,in a 2000 edition.will check on those page numbers and pm you-thanks!

[jason gogal]

[arnab]

some of these ultra-basic recipes can be dynamite. which reminds me: i should dig out a recipe one of my aunts gave me in calcutta for an extremely simple chicken dish (which sunhee pronounced the best indian chicken dish she'd ever tasted).

[arnab]

[seajay]

Any other whole spices besides the cinnamon/cassia? & of that, the ubiquitous 1 inch stick?

cj

ed to add post script report on the nutmeggy chicken from gingerly above.

Made it last night, & it's deceptively flavorful enough that encores were requested. I used skinned & boned thighs, tiny potatoes cut in half, & baked all in 320 F oven for 30 minutes in heavy enamelled cast iron pot after the sautee & sear phases. There is enough chilli powder to give a very slight kick, and the nutmeg adds an interesting under note to the flavor -- kind of earthy, not sweety. This is one that I would never have thought of on my own. And no chopping/grinding/babysitting of pot required if you put it in the oven, so perfect for those times when kitchen simplicity makes life better -- or when all ones effort must go into elaborate side dishes.

This post has been edited by seajay: Sep 30 2005, 03:10 AM

[arnab]

[mediamongol]

arnab that recipe's very similar to my family's signature "hare masale ki murghi" which gets made for EVERY "daawat"
our is a little more complicated, with some more whole spices (green cardamom, cloves, bay leaves), yoghurt and ground cashewnuts. the green chiles and cilantro are ground together and added at the end.

[arnab]

[mediamongol]

Azamgarh, which might explain the similarity. I just remembered that my mother made a version with goat meat without the cashew nuts that had a more stew (as in do piaza) consistency.

[arnab]

here's a recipe for a simple chicken curry that i made last night. actually, it might be more accurate to call this a stew in english. this is a comfort food dish

ingredients:

1 chicken--cut into 8 pieces (i actually used one of those chickens that grows only in the u.s which have 2 breasts and 3 legs and thighs--comes in the "pick o' the chick" tray)

1 large russet potato--peeled, halved and then cut into 8 lengthwise pieces
2 carrots--peeled and cut into about 4 pieces each

1 medium onion--chopped
6 cloves garlic/equiv. amount ginger--made into paste
1 medium tomato--chopped

1 tspn chilli powder
1/2 tspn haldi
1/4 tspn dhania/coriander powder

3-4 cloves
1 inch piece cinnamon/cassia bark

garam masala
dhania leaves/cilantro


prep:

heat oil, fry potatoes for a few minutes and remove. add the whole spices to the oil and then saute onions till they begin to brown. add garlic-ginger paste and saute for a few minutes. add the powdered spices and fry till fragrant. add chicken and mix nicely. fry till water comes out of the chicken and oil separates. add the tomato and repeat oil separation. add the carrots and potatoes and enough water to more than cover everything (i used a stock-pot type saucepan). everything until now should have been on medium heat. bring to a boil, cover and simmer till done. stir in garam masala at the end and garnish with a little dhania.

everything is to taste--you can reduce/increase chillis. you can leave out the dhania powder and use cumin powder instead. or both. or neither and just some curry powder. you could leave out the whole spices entirely, or you could add some green cardamom pods. you could add a pinch of sugar and/or some peppercorns. whatever you do to the flavor profile you should end up with a thin, flavorful gravy (my sister and i called it "lat-lattay" in bengali--with a soft t sound). great with rice or even chapatis. with rice you want to drown it with the gravy. you could also probably just eat it with a spoon.

[Anjali]

Arnab, I made your simple chicken curry (from the recipe you got from your aunt) and I must agree, even my family voted it as the best chicken they had tasted. I was hesitant to make a lot-- didn't know whether chicken without even haldi would be to their taste-- but it's all over and they are asking for more as I am typing this post.

Edit-- do you have any more of these deceptive recipes?

This post has been edited by Anjali: Oct 5 2005, 09:13 AM

[frangipani]

I never thought I'd say this, being very comfortably, happily vegetarian most of the time, but I am dying to cook some chicken curry. I am so heartily sick of dal, sabji, chawal, roti day after day after day. Once my folks leave, the first thing I'm going to cook (after a week of eating cereal at home, and eating sushi out, or any other cuisine as far as possible from marathi/kannada veg food people can suggest) is Arnab's chicken curry.

This post has been edited by frangipani: Oct 5 2005, 07:09 PM