This dish was inspired by India’s only heavy metal chef, Sahil “Demonstealer” Makhija, and is my take on his Black Label Chicken Curry. You can check out the original recipe here…
Both Sahil’s show and band, Demonic Resurrection, are very
very cool, and I find his cookery show, Headbanger’s Kitchen to be tremendously
inspiring.
Now, if you’re ready to cook with me, we shall begin by
preparing the ingredients
INGREDIENTS
Boneless Chicken –350 grams
(approx), cut into medium sized pieces.
FOR THE MARINADE
Plain yoghurt (non
sweetened) – 150 grams
Ginger paste – 1 teaspoon
Garlic paste – 1 teaspoon
Red chilli powder – 1 teaspoon
Coriander powder – 1 teaspoon
Garam Masala powder –
1 teaspoon
Turmeric powder – 1 teaspoon
Salt – 1 teaspoon
FOR THE PHORON
Whole cumin seeds – ½ teaspoon
Whole black pepper – 1
teaspoon
Bay leaf – 1 large
FOR THE GRAVY
Onion – 1 large,
finely chopped
Tomato – 1 large,
finely chopped
Green chillies – 2,
medium sized, slit but not deseeded
FOR GARNISHING
Fresh Coriander
leaves, finely chopped – a handfull
Oil for cooking
Salt
Hot water
METHOD
Blend together all the marinade ingredients into a smooth
paste, mix well with raw chicken and set aside for atleast an hour. For best
results, marinate overnight. Just mix the chicken and marinade, cover well, and
leave in the refrigerator (not freezer)
Heat about 4 tablespoons of oil to smoking. I use rice bran
oil. You can use any white oil, not olive oil. If you’re using ghee, do not
heat it to smoking, just ensure it is hot enough so that the phoron ingredients
sizzle.
Once oil is heated, add the phoron ingredients, give them a
quick stir, and before anything has a chance to burn, add the onions.Phoron is also known as "chhok".
Add a spoon of salt, and fry onions till they just start
turning brown. Don’t wait for them to completely turn brown though.
Now add the chopped tomato and green chillies and stir,
lower heat to low, cover and let it cook for 5 minutes atleast.
Once the onions have sort of broken down, and begin to look
kinda mushy, raise heat to high and add the chicken, marinade and all. Stir
well for a couple of minutes, lower heat to low, cover and let it cook for
about half an hour.
While the chicken is cooking, do remember to stir it at 5 or
10 minute intervals. We’re using a lot of masala paste, and those will have a
tendency to stick to the bottom of the pan and get burnt if you aren’t careful.
While all this is happening, heat 2 cups of water to boiling
and keep ready.
This process of cooking on a low flame, with the cover on,
is called “kosha”, it gives a very rich flavor to the dish, and the sign that
the process has been completed is that the oil separates at the sides. Once you
see that happening, raise the heat, quickly add the water, stir thoroughly, and
bring the curry to a boil.
Lower heat to medium, cover and allow the curry to cook for
another 5 minutes.
Taste a spoon of gravy at this point, and make sure you
added enough salt. Remember two things. One, if you added less salt, you can
always add more later, but once you add too much, it’s difficult to correct. Two, the more you thicken a gravy, the saltier it gets, since it’s getting
more and more concentrated.
Raise heat, and reduce gravy to desired consistency, add the
chopped coriander, give it a quick stir, and take it off the flame.
Serve with steamed rice.
Serves 4
Prep time – 30 minutes
Cooking time – 45 minutes
