Chicken Masala Curry

This Chicken Masala Curry may not be exactly what you might expect with a BIR Curry, it's better.  No previously made base curry sauce here.  It's cooked from scratch with fresh ingredients and is one of the best Curries we've had in a long time.  Plus it's gets better and better each day.  Make a few batches of this in advance if you want, it freezes well to.  What more could you want?

But you'll have to try it for yourself to find out just how good it is.

Curries, whichever Country they originate from, are loved in this house.  Whether it's just the two of us or we have guests, we just love em, how about you?

This is a Masala Chicken Curry due to the spice mixture used.  I always roast and grind my own spices, then store in small quantities in little individual spice jars.  That way, there is always a fresh supply on hand.

Ready for the most amazing home cooked Curry?  Then simply follow the recipe below.

Chicken Masala Curry (Serves 2-3)

* You can add more, but you can’t take away!!

Ingredients:-

200g Chicken Breast (chopped into chunks)

2 tablespoon Oil

1 x Onion (finely hopped)

2 x small Green Chilli (seeds removed and finely chopped)

1 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic Paste

2 x Roma Tomato, or 1 x large tom (skin/s removed and chopped)

3 tablespoon Natural Yoghurt

1 x Bay leaf

¼ teaspoon hot Red Chili Powder (or more depending how hot yours is *)

1 teaspoon Coriander Powder

½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder

½ teaspoon Garam Masala Powder

1 teaspoon Tandoori Paste (homemade or store bought)

Salt and ground black pepper to taste *

250ml Chicken stock

125ml approx, Water (to adjust consistency of gravy to your requirements if necessary)

2 tablespoon chopped Cilantro (optional to garnish)

Marinade:-

¼  teaspoon Red Chili Powder

½ teaspoon Turmeric Powder

1 teaspoon Ginger-Garlic Paste

1 tablespoon Lemon Juice

½ teaspoon Salt

* You can add more, but you can’t take away!!

Put all marinade ingredients into a bowl, mix well to combine.  Add  Chicken pieces, stir well to coat all the chicken pieces.  Put to one side and marinade minimum 30 minutes (if time allows, marinade in fridge overnight).

Heat oil in a heavy pan (wok or Karahi) add onion and fry for 1 minute, add ginger-garlic paste and chopped green chili, mix well and continue frying until onion becomes transparent.

Add all the spice powders, tandoori paste and Bay leaf, stir well and cook for 5 minutes on medium heat.  Now add tomato, yoghurt and salt/pepper, stir and cook until tomato becomes tender and oil comes to top.

Add marinated chicken and give good stir, cook for 5-7 minutes on a medium low heat.  Add the Chicken stock and cook until chicken becomes tender and cooked, stir in intervals.  If required add more some/all of the water.

Taste and adjust salt/spices if required.  Remove/discard bay leaf and Serve immediately with rice/side dishes of your choice.

Thai basil chicken - pad kra pao gai (ผัดกระเพราไก่)

This Thai basil chicken recipe - pad kra pao gai (ผัดกระเพราไก่) is a true classic. It's one of the most popular Thai street food dishes. The chicken is stir fried with Thai holy basil, and traditionally served on top of rice with a crispy fried egg on the side!

No fried eggs for me thanks.  I’m English and what do fried eggs mean to us Brits?  Yup, breakfast, so no further explanation required.

Thai basil chicken is a dish I've been wanting to make at home for so long.  What's stopping you? I'm hearing right now.  Well, quite simply, the Basil!

Living in Spain is amazing but, one problem for ex-pat cooks is sourcing ingredients. Particularly for Asian dishes.  Made almost impossible when fresh, perishable foods are essential.

I was getting so fed up not being able to get my fix of Thai basil chicken I sent a message to our local Garden Centre for one last ditch attempt.  Because the owner is English and occasionally stocks plants not normally found in Spain, I assumed there may be a minimal chance it may be stocked.

Without much hope, I was elated to receive a reply confirming stocks of Thai Basil.  I felt like I had won the Lottery and sent Mr. Grumps to immediately purchase a plant.

It's doing well in our garden too and gives a regular supply of fresh leaves, how happy am I?

You may think this dish is going to be a very spicy dish due to the amount of garlic and chillies required.  Trust me when I say it's perfect so please don't adjust the recipe, you will regret it if you do.  Will you try it and come back to tell me you love it too?

Thai basil chicken recipe (pad kra pao gai - ผัดกระเพราไก่)

Makes 1 large or 2 smaller potions

1 chicken breast (or any other cut of boneless chicken, about 200 grams)

5 cloves of garlic

4 Thai chillies

1 tablespoon oil for frying

1 teaspoon of oyster sauce

½ teaspoon light soy sauce

½ teaspoon sugar

1 splash of dark soy sauce

1 handful of Thai holy basil leaves

1 Crispy fried egg (optional)

Cut the chicken into small bite sized pieces.

Rinse and peel the garlic and chillies, and pound them in a mortar and pestle (alternatively you can just mince them with a knife). They don't need to be super fine, you just want to bring out the oils and flavours from the garlic and chillies.

Pluck a good sized handful of holy basil leaves off the stems.

Now it's time to start cooking. Heat your wok on high heat, and add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the pan.

When the oil is hot, add the chillies and garlic. Stir fry them for about 20 seconds or so until they get really fragrant, but don't let them burn or get too dry.

Toss in your chicken. Keep stir frying continuously. At this stage you want to continue to stir and cook your chicken until it's just about fully cooked all the way through (depending on the size pieces of chicken and how hot your fire is, it should take about 2 - 3 minutes). If it starts to get dry, add just a tiny splash of water.

Add 1 teaspoon of oyster sauce, ½ teaspoon light soy sauce, ½ teaspoon sugar, and finally a splash of dark soy sauce. Keep stir frying for about another 30 seconds.

Grab a handful of holy basil, toss it into the pan, fold it into the chicken, and then immediately turn off the heat (if you're using an electric stove, you'll want to remove the pan from the burner). The holy basil really only needs to cook for about 5 seconds, and it will continue to wilt and cook from the existing heat of the chicken. This step is important because if you cook the basil for too long, it loses some of its glorious flavour and gets slightly chewy.



Recipe source Eating Thai Food

Chengdu Chicken

Chengdu Chicken, so named after the city of Chengdu, the capital of Szechuan province.  A deliciously spiced Szechuan recipe.

A dish regularly seen at our dining table.  Mr. Grump eats very little in the way of vegetables, particularly if green.  Spinach, however is one of the healthier vegetables he actually loves.  So any dishes that contain this beautiful green vegetable, gives me the perfect excuse to get it on the table.

Serves 3- 4 as a main dish, or 4 - 6 as part of a multi-course meal.

Ingredients:-

2 large skinless chicken breast (finely sliced)

1 spring onion (finely chopped)

1 garlic clove (peeled and crushed)

2 slices ginger (peeled)

2-3 large handfuls fresh spinach (washed)

Sea salt to season spinach

1 tbsp hot bean paste

½ tsp sesame oil, or to taste

1 tsp freshly ground Szechuan pepper

5 tbsp vegetable oil (divided 1 + 4)

Marinade:-

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine or sherry

Pinch of ground white pepper

¼ tsp sesame oil

3 tsp cornstarch

Sauce:-

1 tbsp shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

1 tbsp soy sauce

2 tsp rice vinegar (red rice vinegar if possible)

1 tsp sugar

1 ½ tsp cornstarch mixed in 2 tablespoons water

Place marinade ingredients into a bowl, stir well and add the chicken slices.  Stir well to coat in marinade.  Set aside for at least 20 minutes (longer if possible).

In the meantime, combine the rice wine or dry sherry, soy sauce, vinegar and sugar. In a separate small bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix cornstarch with the water. Set aside.

Heat a wok and when hot, add 1 tbsp of the oil. Add the spinach and sprinkle a bit of salt of top. As soon as the spinach wilts (a few seconds), remove it and set aside.

Clean out the wok and heat 4 tablespoons oil. Add the chicken, stir-frying continually to keep them from sticking. When the chicken changes colour and is nearly 80 percent cooked, remove from the wok and set aside. Leave 2 tablespoons oil in the wok.

Add the garlic, ginger and hot bean paste. Stir-fry briefly until fragrant (about 30 seconds).

Add the sauce mixture to the wok. Stir fry for 1 minute, re-stir the cornstarch slurry mixture and stir into the sauce until thickened.  Stir in the spinach, green onion and sesame oil. Sprinkle over the freshly ground Szechuan pepper.

Transfer to serving dish immediately.