The heavy use of sliced garlic and chilli in this BIR curry gives a lovely flavour, with a bit of coconut to enrich it further. Star anise infuses the curry with an aromatic twist. Simply put, if you like garlic you will LOVE this curry. Feel free to experiment with alternatives to chicken.
This is one of many delicious BIR recipes in my book Indian Restaurant Curry at Home Volume 1.
Books by Richard Sayce
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INGREDIENTS
- 3 TBSP (45ml) Oil, Ghee or a mixture of
the two - 1 Star Anise
- 75-100g Onion, finely chopped
- 20g Garlic Cloves, thinly sliced (about 6 cloves)
- 1½ tsp Ginger/Garlic Paste
- 1 tsp Kasuri Methi
- 1 tsp Chilli Powder
- 1½ tsp Mix Powder
- ¼ tsp Garam Masala
- ¼-½ tsp Salt
- 4 TBSP Tomato Paste
- 1 TBSP each of finely chopped fresh
- Coriander Stalks and Leaves
- 280ml+ Base Gravy, heated up
- Pre-Cooked Chicken or Chicken Tikka
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
- 1½ TBSP Coconut Powder/Flour
- 50-75ml Coconut Milk
- 4-6 fresh Thin Green Chillies
- 1-2 tsp Mango Chutney (optional)
METHOD
- Add the oil to a frying pan on medium high heat.
- Throw in the star anise. Fry for 30-45 seconds, to infuse the oil while stirring.
- Add the finely chopped onion and thinly sliced garlic cloves. Cook for about 1-2 minutes until nicely browned, stirring frequently. The garlic needs to be nicely browned, but not burnt.
- Next, add the ginger/garlic paste, stirring until just starting to brown and the sizzling sound reducing. This should take about 30 seconds
- Add the kasuri methi, chilli powder, mix powder, garam masala, and salt.
- Fry for 20-30 seconds, stirring very frequently. Add a little base gravy (e.g. 30ml) if the mixture dries out and sticks to the pan, to avoid burning the spices and to give them enough time to cook properly.
- Add the tomato paste and turn up the heat to high.
- Then add the pre-cooked chicken or chicken tikka, coriander stalks, lemon juice, and mix well, making sure the chicken pieces are coated in the sauce.
- Add 75ml of base gravy and the coconut powder/flour. Mix and cook for 30 seconds with no further stirring. The coconut will have made the sauce very thick at this point.
- Next add a second 75ml of base gravy, stir into the sauce, and leave on high heat with no further stirring until the sauce is reduced a little and small dry craters form around the edges.
- Add the final 100ml of base gravy, coconut milk and fresh green chillies, stirring and scraping once when first added.
- Leave to cook on high heat for 4-5 minutes. Stir and scrape once or twice to mix the caramelised sauce back in, but do this only to prevent the sauce from sticking too much and burning. It’s important to let the sauce adhere to the bottom and sides of the pan, which produces a great flavour.
- Add some extra base gravy near the end of cooking if it appears to be thickening up too much.
- 30 seconds before the end of cooking stir in the fresh coriander leaves.
- Taste the sauce. If you prefer it a little sweeter add 1-2 tsp mango chutney.
- Fish out the star anise and discard it. You can also spoon off any excess oil from the surface of the curry if you wish.
- Serve, sprinkled with extra fresh coriander.
NOTES
- All spoon measurements are level, i.e. 1 tsp=5 ml, 1 TBSP=15ml.
- Learn about the health benefits of garlic in this article.
Books by Richard Sayce
