A good lunch gives a bored desk jobber something to look forward to. And nuking the office with a spice packed chicken curry? It warms my cantankerous heart. This one raised such a stink that it cleared the dead aired office, making the rest of the staff hungry and heading for the basement cafeteria.
Here’s Vij Family’s Chicken Curry from Vij’s Indian Cuisine. This one got so much attention coming out of the work microwave that I messaged Hanne at home and told her to quick take a picture before she finished her leftovers. Like most Indian recipes, it’s ingredient and step intensive. But it’s well worth the effort. Serves 4-6 or 2 dinners + 2 next day lunches.
1/2 cup canola oil
2 cups chopped onions
3-inch stick of cinnamon
3 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp minced ginger
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 Tbsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp turmeric
1 Tbsp ground cumin
1 Tbsp garam masala (def. worth making your own from scratch)
1/2 tsp cayenne
3 lbs chicken thighs, bone-in
1 cup sour cream, stirred
2 cups water
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
Have all the above set up, ready to go (your mise-en-place). If you’re a quick knife, it may not be necessary, but at least get your spices measured out in a cup (same cup, they all go in at the same time). If you have a large deep-bottomed pan, use it–the surface area will help cook your chicken faster. If not, a small pot will also work.
First you’ll prepare the masala:
- Heat the oil on medium.
- Add the onions and the cinnamon stick and sauté until the onions turn golden (5-8 minutes).
- Add garlic and cook for another 4 minutes.
- Add ginger, tomatoes and your spice mix (salt, black pepper, turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala and cayenne). Cook for 5 minutes or until the oil separates.
Now in with the chicken:
- Skin the chicken thighs and rinse them (you can do this while the masala cooks).
- Add chicken to the masala, turning and coating the pieces well.
- Cook for 10 minutes, until the chicken starts to brown.
- Stir in the sour cream and water and increase the heat to medium-high.
- Wait for a boil, reduce heat and cover. Cook for 15 minutes or until chicken is completely cooked, being sure to stir the pot a few times.
And now the hard part. When your chicken is cooked, remove the pan from the heat. Fish out the cinnamon and let your food cool for 30 minutes or more. Yes, you’re hungry, but be patient. While we waited, Hanne made some jasmine rice to go with the dish.
Next, the annoying part. You need to remove the chicken from the pot and its meat from its bones before adding the meat back into the masala. I nearly skipped this step, but I stuck with the recipe. It’s either going to get messy now or messy while eating. Your call.
Before serving, heat it all up again on medium heat until it starts to simmer. Cut the heat, stir in cilantro, serve, pack leftovers for lunch, tease your coworkers.
5 comments
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November 23, 2007 at 7:11 am
Patricia Scarpin
Looks delish!
November 24, 2007 at 9:25 am
Victoria
This sounds wonderful. I had a tomato-y beef curry last night, all fragrant and warm. The perfect thing after a big Thanksgiving dinner, which is good, but I can only eat once per year. Can’t do it again at Christmas, that’s for sure. Can you explain how the sour cream is stable enough to boil? I definitely want to try this. By the way, I have my apples brewing in vermouth, hoping to drink it next weekend.
November 24, 2007 at 9:38 pm
happygrub
Wow you guys are really smart. I’m seriously impressed, What an authentic curry! My grandma will be proud. I totally agree with making your own garam masala. I’m so afraid that they put MSG into the store bought ones, I’m really allergic to it.
The sour cream is definitely stable enough to boil, just have to stir it constantly like when using coconut milk so it wont split.
November 25, 2007 at 1:56 pm
hannehanne
Hey happygrub,
Thanks! I wish we could take more credit for the curry, but the book we got the recipe from is one of our favourites… I guess that means we’ve got good taste! :) I’m glad to hear your grandma would approve. As we have little background in Indian cuisine, we’re never really sure if what we’re making is authentic.
Homemade garam masala always tastes so much better, and I love how you can change the proportions to suit your own tastes. What spices do you use? And thanks for the info about the sour cream. I was a little unsure when we were putting it in, but it worked out.
Victoria,
Hey, I’m excited that you’re trying out the apple vermouth! Let us know how it turns out for you. And I highly recommend this curry too. The book it comes from is great. The author is a chef who runs a very successful Indian restaurant in Vancouver. Your beef curry sounds great too! Is it your own recipe or from another cook? Thanksgiving IS a big meal, isn’t it? My family always goes a little lighter for Christmas dinner.
November 26, 2007 at 3:17 am
happygrub
U can tell its authentic based on the length of the ingredient list :) I’m appalled at the way Jamie Oliver cooks curry.. I’m so glad u’ve got a great cookbook. There are loads of little tricks to make ur curry delicous that grandmas use.
1. Stir in a good load of deep fried crisp shallots at the end of cooking to finish of the dish.
2. Blend almonds or chashews with a small amount of milk and add it in if your curry is too thin
3. Cut in a potato if your curry is too salty
4. Ghee! *gulp* Lots and lots of it.. AVOID this is you’re heart-healthy
5. Put in some of the spice paste (before adding in the chicken) into your uncooked rice and water for briyani rice
5. Put the fully cooked curry dish into half cooked rice and let it finish cooking for an authentic one dish chicken briyani .
6. For another layer of spice, add finely minced green chilli before garlic.
This goes into the garam masala that our reliable housekeeper makes
-Cumin
-Coriander seeds
-Fennel
-Cinnamon
-Cloves
-Black peppercorns
-White peppercorns
-Nutmeg