I picked this recipe by Hugh Fernley Whitinstall for 2 reasons. 1 - Hugh looks to nice not to trust and, 2 - How could the result be watery if it is baked.
I guess this would be considered a British curry and I am unsure how authentic it is but, 'WHOOP WHOOP' success at last. Like Joey Tribiani when he finally got a part in a film, as Al Pacino's butt, how big an achievement is debatable but I still feel I've cracked it (excuse the pun). What makes it all the more enjoyable is that I had bought the chicken to make some french recipe, found this one on tinterweb and realised I had all the ingredients about an hour before I was due to start cooking.
Ok ingredients :-
- 2 heaped tsp coriander seeds
- 2 heaped tsp cumin seeds
- 1 heaped tsp fennel seeds
- 2 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp ground fenugreek
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 1 large green chilli, roughly chopped
- 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, roughly chopped
- 1 chicken jointed into 6 pieces, or 6 skin on bone in pieces (1.5kg approx)
- 400g tin tomatoes
- 400g tin coconut milk
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
In a frying pan toast the coriander, cumin and fennel seeds for a minute. they will smell aromatic when they are done. Grind them to a rough powder, I used the pestle and morter. Add the fenugreek and turmeric.
Put the onion, garlic, chilli and ginger in a food processor and blend to a coarse paste. You may have to scrape down the sides once or twice.
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in the frying pan over a medium/high heat and add the chicken pieces. Season well and brown them all over, making sure you get the skin a good colour. Transfer them to a large roasting dish, skin side up. You may have to do this in batches.
Reduce the heat and once the pan has cooled down a bit fry the spice mix for a minute or two, then add the onion paste. Fry, stirring frequently for about 5 minutes, until the paste is soft and has reduced slightly in volume. Add a little oil if it seems dry or sticking.
While the onions are frying, tip the tomatoes and coconut milk into the food processor (no need to clean it) and blitz. Pour this into the frying pan and bring to a simmer, stirring constantly. Season with 1 tsp salt and a good grinding of pepper, then pour the sauce over the chicken. Make sure they are all coated in the sauce then push most of the sauce off the top of the chicken so they will brown in the oven.
Place in a pre-heated oven at 180 c/ gas 4 for 1 hour, turning and basting it a couple of times (I did not do that as I forgot). Serve with basmati rice and possible a cheeky naan.
As always I promise it tastes better than it looks.
A few other things to mention
- chlli, I used 2 with seeds in. It wasn't particularly hot but had a nice zing to it. I f you prefer mild, one with seeds removed would be fine.
- I was concerned the addition of coconut milk would make it korma or tikka masala ish but, thankfully, I was wrong.
- the tomato and coconut mix was heart stooping and I felt like abandoning the whole thing. Its like a big bowl of seafood sauce and I couldn't imagine an hour in the oven helping but, thankfully, I was wrong.
- Chicken, we all have our own preferences. If your not a fan of leg meat, use breast but go to the butcher and buy breasts on the bone. You can always remove it after cooking as it's just one small one underneath, then chop up the meat. I don't think you would get the same result with boneless meat.
- Cooking ahead, I can't see why you couldn't prepare this in advance. Remove the meat from the bone and then re-heat on the hob post pub or if friends are over.
Hope you enjoy this one x
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