I'm going to give you a recipe ...
No, really, I'm not kidding, it's not April Fool's Day, I've not been possessed, just that I made up a really cool (well, hot) curry last night and I while I followed no recipe, making it up on the spot, I think it's worthy of writing down.
I know, I know ...
I've been down on recipes for, well, forever, what with all the "what if my dodo eggs are larger than yours?", "what if I can't get Tibetan goat tears?", "what can I use instead of Guatemalan psycho-ward chillies?" ... you get my drift ... and I still don't think it worthy of a recipe, it is worth writing down.
So, here goes ...
Ingredients
2-3 Large Chicken Thighs (see, I've already broken the recipe - is it two? is it three?)
1 Large Onion (yes, define "large")
30g Butter/Ghee (or more, if you like more)
1 tsp Turmeric Powder
6-8 Red Chillies (milder chillies are best - we want colour and flavour, and heat)
3-4 Garlic Cloves (three if they're huge like mine, four, otherwise)
Inch Ginger (erm ... yeah, an inch from a thinner part? or thicker, if you like ginger)
2 tsp Poppy Seeds (I guess Nigella Seeds might do ... Mmmmm! Nigella!)
Half tsp Fenugreek Powder
Half tsp Asafoetida Powder
Halt tsp Black Pepper
Pinch Sea Salt
4 Cloves (more, if you like a powerful aromatic blast, less, if you don't want to feel like you've just been to the Dentist)
Can Coconut Milk (how big a can? I don't know ... 200ml?)
2 tbsp Desiccated Coconut
Method
Forget what's written below and do your own thing ... I did.
I jest ...
Peel and chop the onion in half, shredding each half and committing to a large lidded skillet with a damn good knob of butter or ghee. 30g is good. Turmeric over, low heat, let it caramelise and colour in the turmeric.
Take the chillies (seeded), garlic (peeled), ginger, poppy seeds, fenugreek, asafoetida, black pepper and sea salt, and mash into a paste. If you're like me and don't have (space for) one of those heavy pestle and mortar things, a bowl with the business end of a baseball bat will do ya!
Once the onions are caramelised, pour in the paste, fry off for a short while and then add in the coconut milk and the cloves. Sprinkle in the desiccated coconut and bring to the boil.
Lay your chicken pieces in (skinned), lid on and gently simmer for 30-40 minutes, topping up with a little water as necessary, but in the end you want a reduced, thick and sumptuous dish.
Ready to eat?
Serve on the bone into bowls with rice alongside ... or whatever your favourite rice substitute is. For a full dish, no rice or substitute necessary, cubes of squash or sweet potato will do just perfect.
Serves 2
Naturally, I didn't to any of this and my ingredient list did vary a little ... but, who's counting?
Enjoy!
Now, who's going to be the first to say, "sod chicken, I went with some firm white fish and it was delicious!"?
Now, who's going to be the first to say, "sod chicken, I went with some firm white fish and it was delicious!"?
