cheeky peshwari chicken!
May 12, 2011 § 2 Comments
We love curries. I usually save them for days that I have loads of time and head space so I can get lost in the process. Indian cookery is fun ’cause [to me anyway] it’s a bit like alchemy; you can change the ratios of spices or substitute one for another and end up with a completely different flavour. They can be quick stove-top ones like this, or longer drawn out into-the-oven-for-hours affairs. They can be veggie, or meat, or fish. They can be tomato-ey or creamy or fruity or dry. This is my favourite creamy type curry and it’s become my ‘go to’ recipe for cold rainy days when I’m craving comfort food and a duvet.
Today, even though we’re nearing the middle of May [!!] it was cold, windy, rainy and miserable. And I’d stubbed my toe on the end of the bed first thing this morning and it throbbed all day so was feeling extra sorry for myself. So I reached for my culinary duvet…
The first thing I did was put 5 cloves, 5 cardamom pods, 2 bay leaves and about half a teaspoon of cinnamon into a pestle and mortar and grind them down. I didn’t have any, but an inch of a cinnamon stick would yield a much stronger flavour than the ground I used. [I gotta stock up my store cupboard.]
When I say ‘ground’ what I mean is grind the cloves, and the seeds that will pop out of the cardamom pods. As long as it looks kind of like this, you’re ready to add it to a pan with a few spoons of oil, and fry for a minute or two…
Next into the pan, I put two sliced chicken breasts and an onion that I chopped up small. I fried these until the chicken was cooked, and the onion translucent, but not browned. Kinda like this…
Next, I chopped up 3 big cloves of garlic, and added these to the chicken with half a teaspoon of chilli paste, and a teaspoon of ground ginger – cause I didn’t have any fresh. [I really need to do a re-stock, and soon!]
I cooked it for a few minutes until the garlic released its flavour – but not that long that it browns or burns. Next up – more spices!
So there’s a teaspoon each of ground coriander seeds, ground cumin seeds, and turmeric. I added these to the pot with a generous tablespoon of tomato pureé, and cooked for a few minutes until it looked like this…
Kinda dry-looking, yeah? Well now for the liquid! In a little bowl I added two teaspoons of gram [chickpea] flour to 125g of plain low-fat yoghurt, mixed it well, and added it to the chicken along with 150ml of water. You could use cornflour in place of the gram flour. I won’t tell anyone.
Now, it should look like this – creamy and fragrant and *almost* there….
…all that’s left to do is to leave it to simmer for 20-30 minutes on a low heat – and keep stirring it every so often so it doesn’t stick. That gram flour will do it’s best to stick to the bottom of your pan. Do everything in your power not to let it!! You could add in extras at this point – some sultanas, or some ground almonds or even some coconut, and make it into a kind of bastardised korma or passanda. I’m doing peshwari nans with this today though, so I have those ingredients already covered.
After around half an hour, this is the result – the sauce has thickened, the turmeric and tomato puree have darkened it to a nice golden colour, the chicken is tender and the smell wafting around the kitchen is making my mouth water…
Stir in a handful of fresh coriander leaves, and onto plates! I served this with some plain basmati rice, a home-made peshwari style nan filled with coconut, ground almonds and sultanas, and some sag aloo. Now. That’s enough faff and waffle…
…time to eat!!
[...] and potatoes [aloo] that are fried in mustard seeds and other spices. I usually team it up with a meaty curry, but sometimes it’s just as nice on its own, which is what myself and husband refer to as [...]
Was only looking for a peshwari naan recipe and chanced upon this page…now I NEED to cook your cheeky peshwari chicken too: it looks absolutely yummy. Ditto the saag aloo. Mmmmmm!