Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie
2011 Cooking Club Week 31: Chicken Jalfrezi
Options
-
08-08-2011 10:46pm#1I’m not your scheduled broadcaster but faith handed me a break (pun intended
), allowing me to contribute to one of my favourite threads on boards.ie.
This is one of my favourite chicken recipes ever, Chicken Jalfrezi. There are many strong flavours (Indian spices, chilli, garlic, citrus, coriander etc) which can be balanced to taste. It can also be made with beef, lamb, prawns or firm white fish (like swordfish, monkfish etc). Best of all it is even tastier the next day!
Chicken Jalfrezi, 3-4 portions.
Ingredients: (in order of appearance)
3-4 tbsp. vegetable oil
4-6 cardamom pods
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. ground turmeric
1 tsp. curry powder
1 tsp. ground coriander
1 small onion, finely chopped.
3-5 red chillies (depending on taste)
3 garlic cloves
400g chicken breast
1 tin whole peeled tomatoes (400g)
3-4 cm fresh ginger
1-2 chicken stock cubes
½ lemon
1 lime
1 large bunch of fresh coriander
Rice or Naan Bread to server with
Method:
Crush cardamom pods and remove the seeds, then crush the seeds in a mortar.
Add vegetable oil to large pot and add cardamom, ground turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin and curry powder.
Gently cook the spices in the oil for a minute or so, make sure you do not burn the spices.
Finely chop the onion and deseeded chillies. I usually use 3 chillies for a hot-ish dish, but you can obviously use more or less depending on taste. Add peeled and minced garlic cloves.
Gentle heat the onions, garlic and chilli until soft, make sure they do not brown or frizzle.
Take the pot off the heat and chop the chicken breast into bite sized pieces and add to the pot.
Add the juice of the tin of tomatoes to the pot. Remove skin and “hard bits” of the whole tomatoes and chop finely. Add chopped tomatoes to the pot then add some water, about 1.5 tomato tins worth.
Add peeled and finely grated ginger and one chicken stock cube.
Cook for 15-20 mins on high-ish heat, stirring frequently until most of the liquid is gone and the chicken is cooked.
Add another chicken stock cube if needed, add a bit at the time while tasting as the balance between not salty enough and too salty is very fine.
Take of the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes then add the juice of ½ lemon and 1 lime.
Stir in the chopped fresh coriander and server with rice or naan bread.
Photos:
Chopped vegs and oil.
Added chicken, you do not want to brown the chicken so take the pot off the heat at this point.
Chopped Tomatoes, I have been told that I'm a bit obsessive compulsive about my hatred of tomato skin and hard bits, but they do not add anything taste-wise and have an unsuitable texture.
Added tomatoes and water. The amount of water required depends on the size of the chicken pieces, you may need to add some water to the dish while it is cooking to make sure it does not burn. You will need to stir more frequently as the liquid evaporates.
Cook the chicken until you get a fairly thick sauce (like in the image above), the dish will not be too nice if it is watery as the consistency is wrong and the flavours are not concentrated enough.
The balance between chilli, citrus and coriander can be adjusted to suit your preference. My preference is 1 lime, ½ lemon and a large bunch of fresh coriander
The final dish, I am not great at presentation, but it does taste nice 26
Comments
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
-
What do you put on your Naans?
They're store bought Naans, I just sprinkled them with water before I put them in the oven and brush them with a mix of melted butter and chopped coriander when they come out.
I think that is why my curries aren't as healthy as they sound Mellor
Btw, if anyone has a good recipe for Naan bread please do share, I'd really like to start making my own.0 -
-
-
rough how long would think this would take from start to finish to make?
might give it a ago tonight be i am tight for time
I'm a bit slow at prepping, but I reckon 30-40 mins, slightly less if you work synchronously (prepping the veg when the spices are cooking, prepping the chicken while the veg is cooking etc)
So about:
~5-10 mins prepping the food
~20 mins to cook
If you cut the chicken into smallish pieces it'll cook faster, you just need to reduce the amount of water you add. In fact you might want to start with ~0.5 tin of water and just add a bit more when/if the sauce gets too thick. That way you're not stuck waiting for the water to evaporate even though the chicken is cooked. If you're going for this approach you will need to stir it a lot (unless you have a fancy heavy-bottomed pot ) 0 -
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
I wouldn't eat a huge amount of naan/rice etc if I was tryign to lower calls. I like currys with steamed veg.They're store bought Naans, I just sprinkled them with water before I put them in the oven and brush them with a mix of melted butter and chopped coriander when they come out.
I think that is why my curries aren't as healthy as they sound Mellornope...this sounds like a typical north indian curry,coconut cream is typical of south indian curries..most people add a mix of olive oil/veg oil to their curries and a small amount butter/ghee if its needed for taste..i don't think even indian folk eat lavish heavy-on-rich-ingredients curries every night so richer recipes are probably left for special occassions...has to be said though that the stuff in takeaways is pure slop most of the time so tis best to diy
It's 1 spoon of oil per portion, thats much lower than typical currys (indian, thai, chinese etc) availible in the western world. I'm not talking what indian folk eat on a day to day basis, I'm talking about restaurants, take-aways, or even jars of sauce in supermarkets. The oil/ghee/butter content is defo a lot higher than that.0 -
-
-
I dunno where you're getting 3/4 servings pts - all I see is firsts, and seconds.
This was bloody DELICIOUS. I used 1.5 chillis, and about a half lime/quarter lemon (because it tasted amazing like that, and I didn't want to risk adding more!).. Oh, and I left the seeds of the tomato in - they added to the flavour, I feel
And a freezing cold Bulmers Epic dinner! 0 -
-
I cooked this yesterday and it was excellent. I cooked it with lamb as most of our curries are chicken & we wanted a change. We had about 340g meat serving 3 of us.
I was careful not to burn the spices but I wasnt sure if I had as the onion / spice mix looked black- used the wok with black base so that thew me a bit.
The onle real ingredient I changed was some dried chilli flakes instead of the chillis & I was prob a little cautious as I have got burned (excuse the pun) before. Next time I will reduce the lemon/ lime slightly as it was a little prominent but didnt spoil the taste.
Next time I will increase the spices, onion etc and split it before adding the meat & do a small vegetarian option using chick peas& other veg.
Thanks Pts, well done on the recipe
Sounds very nice, I should have mentioned in the OP that if you reduce the amount of chili you might need to adjust the amount of lemon/lime.
The vegetarian option is a good idea, I've been trying to think of a vegetarian dish for when a vegetarian friend of mine comes over for a long time.I cooked this, then left it overnight to "ripen" and had it the next day. It was great, nice flavour, although I could probably have added more chillies. I err on the side of caution normally, and usually find it strengthens the longer you leave it - this time it got milder!
I marinaded the chicken in yoghurt for about half an hour, as another poster suggested. Very nice.
I'm the same, I normally start with less chili that recepies suggest, just to be safe. Nothing worse than a dish that is uneatable because it's too strong.
Must try marinating the chicken next time to see how it effects the dish.I dunno where you're getting 3/4 servings pts - all I see is firsts, and seconds.
This was bloody DELICIOUS. I used 1.5 chillis, and about a half lime/quarter lemon (because it tasted amazing like that, and I didn't want to risk adding more!).. Oh, and I left the seeds of the tomato in - they added to the flavour, I feel
And a freezing cold Bulmers Epic dinner!
That looks very tastay, maybe 3-4 portions was a bit optimistic
I don't mind the seeds, it's the skin I hate
Well done pts, thanks for filling in for me, it looks great.
Oddly enough, I was actually planning to do an Indian Curry this week.
Hopefully I get a chance to fill in for someone else soon enough.
No probs, great minds and all that 0 -
Had this tonight, with Naan from here
Absolutely delicious, will definitely be making this again.
The one on the left had chicken and lots of chili, the one on the right has a small amount of chili, and vegetarian quorn steak strips.
0 -
Advertisement
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Advertisement
-
Made this yesterday and it was lovely. OH wants to make it again on Friday night with more chilli's though (I only put two in cause I don't like it very spicy).
Only problem I had was when I poured the tin of water in, I couldn't get it to boil off after the twenty mins so I had to drain it into a bowl and slowly add it again bit by bit.
Didn't marinade the chicken before hand and had no problems with it being too dry.
Thanks op!
P.s. I used garam masala for most of the spices along with the cardamon pods.
I've had that problem in the past too. The amount of water used usually depends on the size of the chicken bits and how hot your hob is.
What I do when that happens is cook it until the chicken is cooked, then put the whole thing through a sieve, capturing all the liquid in one pot and the solids in another. Then I boil the liquid at high heat until it is at the right consistency and add it back in with the solids. That way I don't overcook the chicken.
These days though I usually add less water in the beginning, usually not more than one tins worth, then I add more water when/if I need it.
I would recommend getting the spices in this recipe as they tend to be the staple for a lot of middle eastern cooking which makes them very versatile. I think the right spices will make it even nicer! 0
Advertisement