Sujre is new addition to the Gilmore Church Park community kitchen. As far as I know, she is the first member of East Indian ethnic in this cooking club I attend. This is good because this means that we will now have East Indian cooking demonstrations too. True enough, Sujre made an Indian Curry Chicken and two different types of bread to go with it. I am blogging on the Curry Chicken today and will blog on the bread the next two days.
The Indian Curry Chicken was excellent. It has a hint of sourness from the yogurt. The roti (Indian flat bread) is a perfect complement for dipping the curry sauce. This dish is flavourful with the usage of Garam Masala spices but not spicy hot.
I had never really figured out the differences between East Indian curries vs South East Asian curries. I think they are:
- East Indians uses yogurt to make the curry gravy while SE Asians uses coconut milk
- East Indians uses tomatoes as an ingredient while SE Asian does not
- SE Asian curries are almost always spicy hot while East Indian ones are not always so
What do you think … is my perception correct? Can you identify other differences?
Anyway, here is the recipe for Sujre’s Indian Curry Chicken.
Ingredients
Marinate ingredients:
- 1 whole chicken, cut up, remove skin
- 1/2 cup plain yogurt
- 1 tablespoon garlic paste
- 1 tablespoon ginger paste
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric powder
- a pinch of saffron
Other ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon Garam Masala
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 fresh tomatoes, crushed or 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 fresh onions, finely chopped or 3 to 4 tablespoons fried onions
- 2 potatoes, peeled, cut into 1″ chunk and fried
- a bunch of cilantro
Garam Masala is basically a mixture of ground up spices. It is usually made up of green cardamon, brown cardamon, cinnamon stick, black pepper, clove and cumin. For convenience, you may just buy pre-packed Garam Masala. However, Sujre showed us the real way to do it with the real raw ingredients.
Click on the link below for the instructions.
Instructions
 Marinate the chicken with all the marinate ingredients overnight. You may also add in a few pieces of the Masala spices like cloves, black pepper, cardamon, etc. |
 Heat the oil in a pot on low. Fry the spices until fragrant. If you are using the garam Masala in powder form, add some water to it to make it into a paste. |
 Add in the crushed tomatoes and chopped onions. If you are using the fried onions, dont add in at this point.Fry until the oil comes to the top which means that most of the water from the tomatoes has been evaporated. |
 Increase to heat to medium and add the chicken pieces. Stir to mix well with the spices.Fry the chicken for 10 to 15 minutes. |
 Add in the marinates and fried onions (if using). The fried onions help to thicken the sauce. |
 Add in the fried potatoes. You may substitute the fried potatoes with cauliflower or any other vegetables which will not become mushy like carrot. Cook for another 10 minutes. |
 Garnish with freshly chopped cilantro. This Indian Curry Chicken is also great with steam rice. |
 Sujre also served a side dish of red onion salad. Thinly sliced red onions and chopped cilantro marinated in juice of half a lemon. Very appetizing. |
Looks delicious!!!
Happy Valentines Day!
Chris
My Blog
Hi Rukya:
Thanks for the comments. You’re the only regular visitor from London I know of. BTW, I would like to know the differences between East Indian and SE Asian curries — do you mind sharing? Perhaps I need to be clearer. In Canada, we usually use the word East Indian to clearly define Indians from India as opposed to Indians as in the First Nations people. SE Asian is meant to refer to countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Thailand.
Looks as if my mum has cooked it and, since I’m a keen photographer, as if I’ve taken a picture of it. Absolutely delicious, but I feel that your perception of the distinction between East and South-East Indian is wrong.
Ah, no wonder I thought your distinction between the two were wrong. I thought you meant South-East INDIAN. Well, I’m not quite sure about Malaysian, Indonesian etc cookery, but my brother did spend a month in Malaysia, so I could probably ask him.
I’m from Goa, India and we never use yogurt in our curries. Always coconut milk. I think maybe the more south you travel in India, the more coconut milk they use.
I think yogurt is the most common in curries. The use of coconut milk sounds less common. I prefer to use water.
Hello, love the recipes.Sorry for the boldness, I have used your picture for Indian Curry chicken on the wikipedia website. May it be used?
The URL is,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Indian_Curry_Chicken.jpg
Not a problem, Tha. I did notice it this morning but am glad you asked me nevertheless.
Users at wikipedia seem to want to delete the image because it seems that Wikipedia needs the author to agree to allow modification, redistribution, and use for any purpose, including commercial purposes.
That to me seems pushing the license rights to the maximum, but I figure I should ask, before finding another one.
Hi Tha: No problem with me if you want to modify, redistribute and use for any purpose. Is there anything you want me to do for you or wikipedia?
Nope, thanks Ben. I think it should all be taken care of now.
Well as a malaysian..im a hindu bydway..origin is south east india..My mum does curries without yogurt nor coconut milk..just water wud do..personally i dont like chicken curries with coconut milk..n yogurt makes it less spicy which i dont prefer as well..
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