Chicken Jalfrezi

I’d almost forgotten about this recipe – I used to make it often in the days when I raced in from work, and wanted a dinner really quickly. It still works like a charm – quick-cooking Chicken breasts, spices, butter and tomatoes – ready in almost no time. There are rather a lot of spices in it, but don’t get hung up on that. I think the Garam Masala and ground Coriander are important.

Do give it a go.. It’ll be ready in about 25 minutes, start to finish.

EQUIPMENT:

• A chopping board,
• A sharp knife
• A grater
• A large frying pan
• Large saucepan, to cook the rice.

INGREDIENTS: To feed 4-6 people   

• 500g Chicken breasts, each cut into 4-5 large pieces
• 1 medium/large onion, cut into thin crescents
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, grated
• 1-2inch piece of fresh Ginger, peeled and grated
• 1 fat red or green chilli, finely chopped
• 60g butter
• 1-2 tablespoons oil – I use Irish Rapeseed Oil
• good pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon each of:  Turmeric and Mild Chilli Powder
• 1 tin of chopped Tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon each of: Ground Cumin, Ground Coriander and Garam Masala
• Juice of about half a lemon
• Finely chopped fresh Coriander to garnish.
• Basmati rice, to serve.

METHOD:

• Heat the oil and half the butter in the frying pan.
• Add the onion and cook gently until it’s soft but not coloured.
• Add the Chicken, Chilli, Garlic, Turmeric, Chilli powder and salt – stir everything together.
• Cook for about 5 minutes, moving everything about – you don’t want the spices to stick – until the Chicken is coloured on the outside.
• Add in the tin of tomatoes.

• Cover the pan, reduce the heat and let it all cook gently for about 10-15 minutes.
• If you’re serving this with Rice, you could put it on now.
• When the 15 minutes are up, add in the fresh Ginger, ground Cumin, ground Coriander and Garam masala.
• Add in the last of the butter, allow it to melt.
• Stir everything together and let it simmer for a couple of minutes.

• Squeeze over a little lemon juice, especially if you have no fresh Coriander
• Taste for seasoning – I always find it needs more salt.
• Serve with the Basmati Rice, with the chopped Coriander sprinkled over. Naan bread is good with this too.

NOTES:

• As I mentioned before, this tastes even better the next day, so it’s ideal for a prepare-ahead weekday dinner for friends or family.
• It’s not a ‘hot-hot’ dish, and I always served it as a family meal – try adding just half of your fresh Chilli until you see how strong it is. I always use MILD Chilli powder in this recipe.
• Don’t let the long list of spices put you off. I bet you’ve got several of them in your kitchen already!