Traditional Lahori Chicken Curry

The first part of this is the base for all manner of Punjabi curries.  I usually use chicken breast when cooking but you can cook this with chicken thighs, chicken on the bone or lamb. Cooking time will vary accordingly.  Add or remove chilli to suit your taste.  I often add a tin of chick peas at the end to bulk this out, also feel free to substitute the green peppers for green beans, courgettes or even aubergine (although they can take a bit longer to cook and are sometimes best cooked down with the tomatoes before adding the meat.) This is one of the first things I learnt to cook and is my go to dish. Delicious served with basmati rice or my peas pilau rice.

Gear

• 2 chopping boards (one for meat, one for veg)
• Large saucepan/chef’s pan
• Wooden spoon
• 2 sharp knives (again one for meat and one for veg).

Traditional Lahori Chicken Curry

Ingredients

• 500g of free range chicken breasts sliced into bite sized chunks
• 1 large onion peeled and finely chopped/diced
• 4 or 5 garlic cloves peeled and finely chopped
• 1 thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and chopped (I like fairly chunky pieces as opposed to them being too fine).
• 3 green chillies (either finger or birdseye) sliced.
• 2 tbsp of vegetable oil (e.g. rapeseed oil)
• 1 tsp of chilli powder
• ½ tsp turmeric powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1 tin of plum tomatoes (or chopped tomatoes)
• 1 large green pepper (or 2 smaller ones) chopped into large-ish chunks
• Sea salt to season
• bunch of fresh coriander chopped (add before serving.)

Method

1. Add the oil to the saucepan and place on a low heat.
2. Add the diced onion with a good sprinkling of sea salt and ‘sweat’ for about 10 mins, making sure the onion does not brown.
3. Add the garlic, ginger and two of the sliced chillies, stir into the onion for a minute.
4. Increase the heat to medium/high and add the chilli powder, turmeric, paprika and 1tsp of  the garam masala.  If the mix appears too dry add another ‘slug’ of oil. Stir for 30 seconds.
5. Add the tinned tomatoes with a pinch of sea salt, break them up and stir; rinse the inside of the tin with a splash of cold water and add this into the pan, half fill the tin with water and keep to one side.
6. At this point we are going to reduce the sauce. Continue heating on a medium/high heat for about 8-10 minutes; the sauce should become more paste like and the onions will break down into the sauce.  It should start ‘sticking’ to the bottom of the pan. Be careful to not let it burn at this stage. If in doubt add a small splash of water, stir in and continue reducing.
7. Once a paste has formed add the chicken breasts, stir in and coat with the sauce, continue cooking for about 3-4 minutes until the outside of each piece appears a bit cooked.
8. Now add the peppers (or other veg) stir into the paste for about 1 minute.
9. Add the water from your tin, bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low, continue cooking for about 10 minutes. Check the taste and add salt if needed.
10. To check if the chicken is cooked take a piece of it and give it a gentle squeeze, if it still feels very soft it is not cooked.  Try to avoid overcooking the chicken, as it will dry out (especially with chicken breast). It should still have a bit of give, if in doubt slice a piece in half and check it is not pink in the middle!
11. Finally add 1tsp of garam masala, the chopped coriander and the last green chilli just before serving.