Chicken Curry - Thiru Aunty’s recipe

1 medium sized chicken
2 potatoes,
1 tsp Tumeric
Salt
5 garlic
1 inch of ginger
1 onion, diced
1 stalk of curry leaves
1 green chilli, left whole
1 inch of cinnamon
1 tsp fenugreek
3 cloves
2 cup coconut milk, separated into thin and thick milk
½ cup of curry powder
1 tbsp ground fennel
Juice from ½ a lime

1. Prepare chicken: cut into pieces, wash and leave to drain. Add the salt and tumeric, but you don’t have to mix it in.
2. Prepare potatoes: cut into same size as chicken pieces. Leave it in water.
3. Prepare ginger and garlic: pound in mortar and pestle into a paste. Put it on the chicken.
1. Fry the onion, curry leaves and spices: cinnamon, fennugreek, cloves (cummin, mustard seeds, pepper are optional) in oil till the onion is soft.
2. Add the pieces of chicken with tumeric and salt, pounded ginger and garlic, potatoes.
3. Add the thin coconut milk. Coconut milk is for the best flavour, it can be substituted with milk.
4. Add the curry powder. If you have ground cummin or ground coriander, add this as well for a different flavour).
5. Cook for 20 minutes
6. Check when the chicken is cooked and it tastes well. At the end, add ground fennel, 1 or 2 tbsp thick coconut milk and the lime juice. This is for added flavour, if you are happy when the chicken is cooked, end there.
7. If you didn’t use coconut milk earlier, you don’t have to use it here. Or, if you didn’t use coconut milk earlier, you could use just cream of coconut here.

Dharm's Murgh Marsala Chicken

I first tried this most delicious zesty chicken at my Dharm's house. I finally got the recipe from his blog and have been cooking it at least 10 times a year for the family. It is a guarantee to eat food at home especially with Jun the fussy 5 year old. I am back dating this post to when I first tried it and being close to my description of dinner at Dharms in 2008.

Dharm's Murgh Marsala Chicken recipe is here.

When I make it, I make it as easy as I can. I do cut corners. Firstly, I mix yoghurt, curry powder and chilli powder without the ginger and garlic to marinade the think slices of chicken breast. Chicken breast cooks quickly so I don't have to 'wait till the sauce thickens'

While the chicken marinades on the bench top, I chop the onion and immediately start frying it. with cardamons and mustard seed. I chop lots of garlic and ginger and slice a tomato and some green chilli's. Dried chilli's do when I don't have green ones, I feel it adds to the freshness of the dish. If they are in the fridge sometimes I add kafir lime leaves at this point. When the onions are soft, I add the ginger and garlic, after it is cooking well, I add the tomatoes. I wait for the tomatoes to cook down and add the marinaded chicken.

It is almost finished, just waiting for the chicken to cook and the sauce to thicken. Some coriander leaves or parsley is chopped to add to the chicken to finish cooking. I add this in the pan so the coriander melds into the chicken dish. Then serve.

Serve with rice.

The kids love it.

Ceylon Inn

Kami-Meguro 2-7-8. Open 11:30am-2, 5:30-10:15pm (LO) daily.

My birthday dinner. It was simply delicious. The food was spicy and tasty. The brinjal salad had brinjal sliced with a real japanese mandolin: sliced very finely and breifly deep fried then tossed with fresh vegetables, tomatoes, peppers, onions drizzled with a dressing steeped in spices. The chicken devil dry curry hot as advertised.