Chicken jalfrezi

By: Dan Toombs
From: The Curry Guy
Serves: 4 or more as part of a multi-course meal

I visited Balti House Rishton after hearing great things about chef and owner Hussain Rashid. He invited me to come and watch him cook in person and I wasn’t going to pass that offer up. I liked how he was promoting only using the freshest ingredients, so I knew I was going to be offered a good meal for my long drive, if nothing else.

He asked me what I’d like to see him prepare, and as I could see a basket full of fresh tomatoes, green bird’s-eye chillies, peppers and onions, I chose a jalfrezi. We sat down to one heck of a good curry and rice meal. This is my interpretation of the recipe.

Jalfrezi curries are quick stir-fries that are usually served quite dry with lots of crunchy vegetables. Of course, if you like more sauce, you’re in control of that one.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
4 tablespoons	rapeseed oil
or	seasoned oil
1	onion, thinly sliced
1	red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
3	green bird’s-eye chillies, roughly chopped
2 tablespoons	finely chopped coriander stalks
2 tablespoons	Garlic and ginger paste
6 tablespoons	Tomato purée
2 tablespoons	Mixed powder
1 teaspoon	chilli powder (optional)
500ml	Base curry sauce (large batch), heated
700g	Pre-cooked stewed chicken, plus 100ml of its cooking stock
2	tomatoes, quartered
1 teaspoon	dried fenugreek (methi) leaves
1 teaspoon	Garam masala
	salt
	fresh coriander leaves, chopped
	green finger chillies, cut in half lengthways

Method

Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat then add the sliced onion, pepper, green chillies and coriander stalks. Mix this all up in the pan and sauté until the vegetables are beginning to cook through but are still crisp.
Stir in the garlic and ginger paste and fry for about a minute. Add the tomato purée, mixed powder, chilli powder and about 250ml of the base curry sauce. This will come to an instant bubble. Add the chicken, stock and the rest of the base curry sauce.
Let this simmer over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, without stirring unless it is obviously catching on the pan. If the sauce begins to caramelize around the edges of the pan, stir this back into the curry. Add more base sauce or cooking stock if the sauce becomes too thick.
About 2 minutes before serving, add the quartered tomatoes and dried fenugreek leaves.
When the tomatoes are cooked through but still crisp and you are happy with the consistency, season with salt to taste and sprinkle with the garam masala. Finish by garnishing with the chopped coriander leaves and sliced chillies.

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