Cape Malay Chicken Curry by Zurie
photo by Zurie
- Ready In:
- 1hr
- Ingredients:
- 18
- Serves:
-
4
ingredients
- 1 onion, medium, finely chopped
- 4 tablespoons oil
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons coriander seeds
- 2 teaspoons hot pepper flakes (you can use fresh hot peppers to taste)
- 2 teaspoons fennel, ground (or 4 teaspoons whole fennel seeds)
- 1 1⁄2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons ginger, fresh, finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1⁄2 - 1 teaspoon black pepper, coarsely ground
- 15 cardamom pods (whole pods)
- 1⁄2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon garam masala (available from Indian shops, choose mild)
- 1 (14 ounce) can chopped tomatoes (400g)
- 1 1⁄2 lbs chicken pieces (best to cut up a medium chicken)
- 2 teaspoons garlic, finely chopped
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar (I like sticky muscovado)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 -3 teaspoons salt (or more, depending on type of salt)
directions
- Gather your spices together, and peel and chop the ginger. Put the 10 spices -- from the coriander seeds down to the garam masala -- in a mortar and pestle or even in a coffee bean grinder. Mash them together so the cardamom pods burst and the whole thing becomes a mess of spices.
- Then heat the oil in a pot, add the onion over fairly high heat, and stir now and then, for a few minutes. Add the spices you mashed or grinded, and stir. You might need to add more oil: spices slurp up oil as they fry. Don't worry, you will be able to skim it off again later.
- Stir and fry spices and onion for about 2 minutes. Add the can of chopped tomatoes and stir. The heat should be high enough so everything bubbles together.
- Add the chicken pieces, and stir to coat well, keeping heat high until everything is bubbling away.
- Turn heat way down until it just simmers, put on a lid, and cook for about 20 minutes.
- Sprinkle over the garlic, sugar, lemon juice and salt.
- Simmer with lid at a small angle, for about 15 minutes more.
- Stir through, taste the sauce, and adjust seasoning to taste.
- Please note that it is easy, near the end of cooking, to skim off extra oil/fat with a spoon, as it collects in corners of the pot. On my photos you can see there isn't much oil or fat on the dish.
- Serve this with rice. Tonight I served this with green vegetables and what you might call "grits and beans".
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Reviews
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Oh my, Zurie! This is a Superbowl of flavors! I swear, once I opened my little grinder after powdering these spices, I swear I could dab it behind my ears and wear it as perfume! OH, AHH! I used bonelss skinless chicken breasts, so seared them in the pan in just a little oil, then removed from the pan to a platter. Then I followed steps 2-5 with just the sauce to allow these wonderful flavors to cook. After adding the garlic, lemon juice and brown sugar to the sauce, I added back the chicken breasts and let them simmer for the 15 minutes. I used only 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes in the original spice mix, and it was quite spicy for me. I couldn't get the cardamom pods in my small town, but I had cardamom seeds, and used a heaping teaspoon of these to the mix before grinding. Zurie, this was fantastic, and my house still smells wonderful! Bill and I are looking forward to leftovers tomorrow after the flavors have married even more!
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This was just to die for! The moment I opened the spice grinder, the perfume filled my kitchen with the most wonderful aroma, and it only got better as I cooked. Even with the long list of spices this was very easy to make and quick enough for a weeknight dinner. I used bone in chicken hindquarters and the cooking time was perfect. The turmeric in the spice mixture gave the chicken skin a lovely golden color, and the meat was perfectly tender. The sauce just bursts with flavor- not heat, but wonderful, aromatic, complex flavor. This time I served with couscous, but it would also be wonderful over some roasted fingerling potatoes.
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Tweaks
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Actually if I could, I would give it at least a 6 star rating - why? Because the kitchen aroma was simply to die for, it reminded me of my childhood in India and Pakistan when as a child I used to watch the cook create wonderful dishes using the most interesting spices.<br/><br/>The taste was just out of this world, I made no changes what so ever, except I did not have any ground cinnamon so used a cinnamon quill instead. Zurie its a real keeper, thanks so much for posting this.
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
Zurie
South Africa
I'm a widow, retired, and I love cooking. I live on the coast in South Africa and I love seafood. You're welcome to my recipes (all kinds, definitely not just seafood!) Just remember that no recipe is ever cast in stone -- adjust to your taste!
The photo was taken at a rustic seaside restaurant on our West Coast, approx 1 year ago (2016).