Chicken Chilli Chaat

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As promised, the recipe for last night's curry fugue: serves four...

Ingreedyments:

500 grams of diced chicken thigh meat

2 medium brown onions

2 medium tomatoes, chopped into eighths

1/2 of a green pepper, sliced into narrow strips

6 whole green finger chillies [mine are Kenyan and quite hot], pricked/sliced but not opened completely

10-12 dried Kashmiri chillies, halved and soaked in boiling water

A thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger, grated

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp turmeric powder - with a little more for dusting the chicken

1 tsp each of chilli, coriander and garam masala powders

1/4 tsp fenugreek seeds

1 tsp brown mustard seeds

1/8 tsp asafoetida powder

oil of choice

lemon juice

salt to taste

chaat masala to garnish when serving

Mode d'emploi:

First off, sauté the sliced onions as per the slow method I've mentioned in blogs past - a pinch of sea salt helps - meanwhile, prepare the basic spice paste from the ginger, powdered spices and the Kashmiri chillies, some salt, lemon juice and oil, in a pestle & mortar; grinding it to a smooth paste. Dice the chicken and dust with turmeric powder; heat a frying pan, adding some oil, and when hot, add the asafoetida powder, fenugreek and mustards seeds. When the mustard seeds start to spit, add the diced chicken and fry on a lower heat [taking care not to burn the fenugreek seeds] until sealed, then set aside. 

Add the green chillies and sliced pepper to the onions and sweat down until soft. Add the spice paste and stir: cook out until the oils start to separate and the thing starts to smell good. Add the chicken, a squeeze of lemon juice and the chopped tomatoes; stir, bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and cover. If it starts to dry out too much, a dash of hot water to let the sauce down is a good idea, but keep it to a bare minimum. Cook until it tastes right and the chicken is cooked through. Season to taste. Serve with a good pinch or two of Chaat Masala sprinkled over the top, with rice and/or naan, chapatis or whatever you prefer. If you like a bit of heat, eat the green chillis, otherwise put them to one side. Enjoy...

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