Chicken jalfrezi

From Ars Cookbook

Submitted by Mat8iou

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Hot but fresh tasting - jalfrezi is an Indian stir fry - originally a way to use up left over food - but good with fresh meat too. It takes about 15 minutes preparation time & 15 minutes cooking time.

You may find that you need to reduce the number of chilies & halve the amount of chili powder if you don't like your food too hot.

Serves 4 people

Ingredients:

• 450-500g (1 lb) uncooked chopped chicken breast pieces - I often use turkey instead
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 2 teaspoons ground coriander (coriander is what people in the US call cilantro)
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon white cummin seeds
• 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2.5 cm piece fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 2 onions, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 green pepper, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, seeded and chopped
• 2 fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 12 or more green finger chillies, finely sliced
• 2 tablespoons coriander leaves, chopped
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• salt to taste
• Juice of 1/2 a lime

Note that there is no pre-mixed curry powder in it & that it has a far more interesting flavour as a result of this.

The preparation of the ingredients takes a while, so I tend to do all of it before starting cooking, otherwise there is not enough time.

In terms of preparation, I measure out the spices (except the garam masala) & put them on a plate. Chop the peppers & onions & chillies & put them on a plate. Chop the tomatoes & coriander & add the garam masala to this in a plate or bowl. Chop the garlic & ginger finely. Doing this first makes the next process much simpler.

1. Dice the chicken into bite-size pieces.

2. Heat the oil on a medium heat and add the garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 45 seconds. Add the turmeric, ground coriander, ground cumin, chili powder, and seeds for about 45 seconds.

3. Add the chicken and stir-fry for about 2 minutes.

4. Add the onion, chillies and peppers and continue to stir-fry for about 5 more minutes. Add a little water if it gets too dry.

5. Add the coriander, tomatoes and garam masala, and stir-fry for about 5 minutes more on medium heat. Add a little water if it gets too dry.

6. Turn off the heat, stir in the lime juice & salt to taste.

Serve with rice, poppadums & lime pickle. Add a little chopped coriander on top.