Chicken Karahi Curry

Here's a fairy simple but authentic chicken curry for you all to try. I made this on Friday night having made the marinade for the chicken in the morning to let the flavours develop all day. 

Chicken karahi is also known as gosht karahi and is usually cooked with goat. But I happen to adore goats and therefore its one of the meats you won't see on the blog anywhere! It is a Pakistani and North Indian dish which takes its name from the pot it is cooked in; a karahi. This looks a bit like a wok but has steeper sides and you cook the curry in this one pot. I have a similar pan so I used mine and it was delicious!

For the chicken marinade:

3 chicken breasts, cut into large strips
1 inch piece ginger, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp. chilli powder
1/2 tsp. turmeric powder
2 tbsp. natural yoghurt
juice of half a lemon

Put all of the above ingredients into a bowl and leave in the fridge to marinade for anything between 1-24 hours.

For the curry:

2 tbsp. oil
2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. cumin seeds

3 whole peppercorns

2 cloves

1 cinnamon stick

2 cardamom pods, seeds only

1 tsp. fenugreek

2 onions, chopped finely

inch piece ginger, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic, crushed

6 medium tomatoes, chopped finely

3 green chillies, halved

1 tsp. chilli powder

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/2 tsp. garam masala
salt to taste

coriander leaves, chopped

 

In a pan, heat the butter and oil. Add the cumin seeds, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon and cardamom. Cook for a minute or two until they start to splutter and add the fenugreek and onions. Fry for 5 minutes until onions cooked and browning and then add the ginger, garlic and tomatoes. Cook on a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the tomatoes start to thicken and the oil starts to separate. Add the chillies.

 

Now turn the heat up to high and add the chicken. The sauce will have reduced quite a bit so stir fry the chicken until it begins to colour. Add 1/2 cup water (120ml), along with the chilli powder, cumin and coriander. Cover and leave to cook on low for 20 minutes. Add the garum masala, a little salt and some fresh chopped coriander. Cook for another 5 minutes and its ready. The house will smell amazing and you will now be hungry!

 

Serve with rice and chapatis if liked. Delicious!

 

 

Portuguese Custard Tarts

Or 'Pastel de Nata' as they are called in Portugal. Delicious egg custard tarts that are loved all over the world. As well as Portugal, I have seen these served in London, Spain, Germany, the Canaries and know they are adored over in the Far East too.

I made these about half an hour ago and we are literally sitting here with a cup of tea, waiting impatiently for them to cool to room temperature (best way to eat them).

Ingredients:

1 packet puff pastry
275ml milk
zest of 1 medium orange
1 vanilla pod, split and seeds scraped out (keep separate)
4 egg yolks
150g caster sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons plain flour

Method:

Set the oven to 210 C. Grease a 12 hole muffin tin with butter and line them with the pastry.

Put the milk in a saucepan with the orange zest and the vanilla pods (with seeds removed) and heat to hot but not boiling.

Whisk the eggs yolks in a bowl with the sugar until combined and add the vanilla seeds and flour, stir in.

Put a sieve over the egg mix and pour the hot milk over the eggs. Whisk well until combined and transfer to a jug. Carefully pour the egg custard into the pastry cases, filling to the top. Gently put in the oven for approx. 20 minutes.

They will be puffed up when you take them out of the oven - don't worry when they sink down. They are meant to do that! Leave to cool to room temperature and enjoy. Happy Sunday everyone!