A Very Handi Chicken...

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OK - as promised, Chicken Handi, or chicken in a pot, although this pot is French and oval, but there you go: it's a good pot, and very Hand[i]y, too. I pretty much followed the recipe/receipt/modus operandi on the spice mix packet, just to see if I could learn anything [new] about cooking South-Asian-style food: you're never too old to learn new tricks; something I firmly believe of dogs, too. 

Anyhow, the experiment of actually following instructions in cooking anything- as you'll no doubt know is an unusual state of affairs for me - has actually borne some good fruit in this case. A fine sauce with an authentic consistency, and as I'd surmised, with the natural sweetness of the onion base to the fore and balancing the acidity of the tomatoes to boot; this was as close to my Holy Grail of South Asian sauce-making as I've got in forty-odd years of cooking. I will add that the spice-mix that came in the packet with the recipe is tailored to a spice-loving palate, so if you're a bit nesh on the chilli front then caution is advised.

However, I've no hesitation in recommending the Shah Handi Chicken mix, as it tasted perfectly fine and to my taste was not overly hot - be warned, I like my food spicy - to my taste. What I do take away from this is that I have been cooking this type of sauce wrong for the last forty-four years. As my good friend from college and one of the principle witnesses at our wedding - and de facto my best man - Jim Fenwick always had it when talking about cooking curry: '...it's all about the onions...' He was so right. This old dog has indeed learned a new trick. One step further towards recreating the Madras from The Light of Bengal in Bearwood; now getting that one right would really be to achieve satori to this epicurean old Zen Buddhist Brummie.

By the way, eighty years ago today, General Dwight D. Eisenhower gave the sanction for Operation Market Garden to commence. Expect a couple of historical diary entries over the next week or so, as I try to frame my uncle Arthur's brief but intense entanglement in this unfortunate escapade...

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