Ingredients
- 1 chicken, about 1.35 kg, jointed into 8 pieces
- ½ teaspoon turmeric
- 4 cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- juice of ½ lemon
- 2 tablespoons sunflower oil
- 1 dried red chilli, broken into 2–3 pieces
- 1 teaspoon brown or black mustard seeds
- ½ teaspoon fennel seeds
- ¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
- ¼ teaspoon ground cumin
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon chickpea flour (gram flour)
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly crushed
- ½ green capsicum, thinly sliced
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 1 can chopped tomatoes, about 400 g250 g potatoes, peeled
- ¼ green cabbage, about 140 g, thinly sliced
- 1 cup (155 g) frozen peas, thawed with boiling water and drained
- salt and pepper
Preparation
- Remove the skin from the chicken joints.
- Cut 3–4 slashes in the flesh of each joint, right to the bone.
- Rub the turmeric, ginger, lemon juice and a little salt all over the chicken joints, then leave to marinate for about 30 minutes.
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy–based frying pan.
- Add the dried chilli, mustard seeds, fennel seeds and cumin seeds, and let them sputter and pop for a few minutes.
- Stir in the ground cumin, cinnamon and chickpea flour.
- Watch carefully to be sure you do not burn the spices, as this can happen very quickly.
- Add the garlic, capsicum and onion to the spice mixture and cook for a few minutes, stirring.
- Add the chicken and tomatoes and stir to mix.
- Cover and cook for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the potatoes in boiling water for 5 minutes; drain and cut into bite–sized pieces.
- Blanch the cabbage in a separate pan of boiling water for 1 minute, then drain.
- Add the potatoes and cabbage to the curried chicken and stir in.
- Cover the pan again and continue to simmer over a moderately low heat for 20–25 minutes or until the chicken is completely cooked and tender.
- Add the peas and warm through for a few minutes.
- Serve hot, with Indian breads and pickles.
Serves 4
Preparation: 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes marinating
Cooking: about 45 minutes