Nepalese-style Chicken Curry

Nepalese Chicken Curry (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Hi Everyone,

What’s the main dish that appears on your Sunday lunch table every week? Is it Roast Chicken, Baked Pork, Roast Beef, Stewed Chicken with Callaloo, Soup, Curried Chicken? The repetitive familiarity of these dishes keeps us grounded, however, every now and then we like to change things up a bit by using a different herb or spice combo to season and cook these familiar dishes. As a student of curry (the term and all that it encompasses), I am always on the lookout for different spice mixes and herb combos to try, so when I read about a Nepalese-style Chicken Curry, also referred to as Gurkha Chicken Curry I knew I had to give it a try.

This 3-step curry draws heavily on the cuisine of the ethnic Nepali people of India, known as the Gurkhas. It is mild in flavour, and though it may look like the Chicken Curry to which you are accustomed, it is not. While this is an important distinction to make, it is also necessary so that when you make and eat the curry, you do not compare it to the Chicken Curry with which you are familiar. It is different. It is another type of Chicken Curry.

The mildness in flavour comes from the use of several spices in their whole form to cook the curry. You may recall from my What’s Cooking column on spices, that when applied whole to food, spices provide subtle flavour but when ground to a fine powder and added to pastes and marinades, the flavour is more pronounced. Do not take the mildness of the Gurkha Chicken Curry to mean that it is lacking in any way, it is not; the curry uses spices generally used for curries – coriander seeds, cumin/jeera, fennel, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and turmeric as well as ginger, garlic, onions, bay leaf and pepper. How-ever, it is the application of these spices and aromatics that makes this curry one-of-a-kind. If you’re thinking of introducing people to Chicken Curry, this would be a good place to start. And if you’re thinking of making a different kind of Chicken Curry for your next Sunday lunch meal, give this version a try.

In addition to the application of the spices, the 3-stage prep and cooking of the curry is also what makes it different. It is perfect for Sunday lunch because parts 1 and 2 are necessary to do ahead and can easily be done on Saturday. Here’s how it goes.

Marinate chicken overnight for best flavor (Photo by Cynthia Nelson)

Stage 1 – Make the masala

You’ll need:

 

  1. Add all the ingredients, except the salt, to a cold dry pan and place over medium  heat. Dry roast until the pan is fragrant, takes about 2 minutes. Nothing has to develop a colour, you are just warming up the ingredients.
  2. Grind all the ingredients along with the salt to make a fine paste. Set aside.

 

Stage 2 – Marinating

You’ll need:

  1. Cut the whole chicken into 12 pieces (breasts in 4, separate thighs and drumsticks,     2 whole wings and the back, halved). Remove the skin from the meat; rinse well and pat dry. Do the same if using thighs and drumsticks.
  2. Season with salt to taste and set aside.
  3. Mix together the yogurt and masala paste and pour over chicken, toss well to coat    and mix. Cover tightly in an airtight container or bowl and refrigerate overnight.

Stage 3 – Cooking the curry

Remove the chicken from the refrigerator and bring up to room temperature. Meanwhile, gather the following ingredients:

Whole spices

Ground spices

Other ingredients

  1. Add the oil to a large deep pan such as a karahi, Dutch oven or similar pot and    place over medium heat until hot. The oil should shimmer when properly heated.
  2. Toss in the cinnamon, cloves, jeera and bay leaf and cook until fragrant. Add the     onions, stir to mix and cook until onions are softened (reduce the heat if necessary,     you do not want to brown the onions).
  3. Raise heat to high and add the chicken and marinade to the pan, mix with the spices and cook for 5 – 7 minutes, turning the meat once or twice.
  4. Mix together the ground spices (coriander, cumin and turmeric) and sprinkle over     the chicken. Toss to mix well and cook for 3 – 4 minutes then add tomatoes and     potatoes. Cook together for 3 minutes.
  5. Add the water, give the pot/pan a good stir and bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat    to medium and cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced and thickened (taste for seasoning – salt).
  6. Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes. If using, sprinkle cilantro/coriander    before serving.

There you have the 3 stages to cooking this Nepalese-style Chicken curry. A few things to note:

Cynthia

cynthia@tasteslikehome.org

www.tasteslikehome.org