A Chicken Jalfreze Curry Recipe.

I like to cook, and one of my signature dishes is a jalfreze-style chicken curry. I've fed this to a few friends in the past and they seem to like it. On a couple of occasions, I've written out the recipe for people so it seemed like a good idea to post it on the Web. Here it is:

Ingredients (for two people, or one greedy b*****d):

• 2 organic chicken breasts.


• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes.


• 1 garlic clove.


• 1 small piece of fresh ginger.


• 1 red onion.


• Half a fresh green pepper.


• Half a fresh chilli.


• Quarter tsp ground cumin.


• Quarter tsp ground coriander.


• Half tsp medium curry powder.


• Bunch of fresh coriander leaves.


• Sea salt, freshly ground black pepper and olive oil.


• For the garnish - a few coriander leaves and a fresh tomato.

Method:

Finely chop half the onion. Pre-heat 2 tbs of olive oil in a saucepan and gently fry the onion over a low heat with a lid for 15 minutes until the onion caramelizes and goes brown. Add the finely chopped garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Add the ground cumin, ground coriander and the curry powder and fry for 1 minute (don't worry if it looks a bit dry.) Add the tin of tomatoes and a cup of water. Bring to the boil and simmer gently for 10 minutes. Check the seasoning and add salt or pepper as required. That's the sauce complete.

Cut the chicken into rough chunks. Cut the pepper into thick strips and finely chop the fresh chilli. Cut the rest of the onion into chunky quarters and add everything to the sauce. Cook gently, stirring occasionally until the meat is cooked. Just before the end, add a good bunch of chopped fresh coriander leaves. Check the seasoning once again, adding a little water if the sauce is too thick or reducing it over a high heat if too thin.

Serve with boiled organic basmati brown rice and a fresh tomato chopped into quarters. Sprinkle a few whole coriander leaves over the top and serve.

You can vary the curry powder and chilli quantities to taste. The above amounts produce a hot, but not overpowering curry. It freezes well and can be converted into a vegetarian version by substituting the chicken for any diced hard vegetables (Bev likes carrots and potatoes.) You can add a handful of lentils or cashew nuts, too.