Chicken Jalfrezi - a lighter but still tasty version!

Over the last few months, my hubby has slowly taken agin the curry pastes that are widely available for home made curries.  He's begun to find them very one-dimensional but more importantly to him, they don't taste of curry. Now this curry flavour is a very definite thing that we have yet to quite pin down, but this Jalfrezi got the closest to it in any curry for a long time.  We're still not quite there, but as I liked this recipe a lot for its flavour and use of fresh vegetables, I thought I'd pass it on to you all.

This recipe doesn't result in a heavy, thickly sauced curry but one that is a lot lighter in texture and without the pools of oil that characterise so many curries these days.  Oh and I'm really not sure how much of a Jalfrezi it really is, but I'm hoping that it is close at least.  As it uses curry powder, my first word of warning is to make sure you are using a good curry powder.  One which has a number of different flavours to it is by far and away the best.  I have yet to find - and yes, I will admit that perhaps there is one somewhere - a supermarket own brand curry powder that would even remotely fit the bill. My favourite curry powders come from our local ethnic shop, where I'm hoping that the curry powders on offer are close to the "real thing", but are certainly a long way from bland.

Secondly, make sure to use tomatoes that have flavour.  Vine ripened are the best of the supermarket choices, but it is worthwhile throwing in a few cherry tomatoes just to boost the profile a bit.

Lastly, make sure to leave yourself enough time.  Once the tomatoes get cooking, you need time for them to cook down, then time for the juice to reduce and intensify the flavour.  If you take the pot off the heat and think it's finished too soon, you'll just have a vaguely spicy tomato stew and not a curry.  So, give yourself and your curry time to chuckle, burp and spit tiny blobs of curry into random spots in your kitchen, you'll be glad you did even if the clean up is tricky.  (Of course, I could have got out the splatter guard which would have made sure no blobs escaped, but I was comfy and would have had to have moved.  What can I tell you?  ~shrug~).

From first putting the coconut oil into the wok, to calling everyone to attention in order to get them sat down and ready for the meal, my curry took around 50 minutes (with a good 30 minutes of chopping beforehand).  So it's not an earth-shattering amount of time, but if you only have half an hour, you're going to be in tomato stew land.  So leave sufficient time.

I really liked this curry.  Hubby wasn't so enthused, but I've already told you about the quest for curryness that we're on there.  When cooking it, I was concerned that it didn't have enough curry character, but as our son came home from college and immediately knew it was curry for dinner, I'm assuming it was just that my nose had got used to the aromas.  It tasted good right from the off and really came together in the last 10 minutes, once the liquid had reduced and the proper curry sauce texture arrived.  It was amazing the difference that reduction made to the overall flavour.

So, enough blathering and on with the recipe!

CHICKEN JALFREZI  (serves 4)

Ingredients :

2 red peppers, one roughly chopped into chunks, the other sliced
1 large onion, half roughly chopped into chunks, the other half sliced
4 large garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
1 tbsp coconut oil
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced
a pinch of sea salt
4 heaped teaspoonfuls curry powder
1 heaped teaspoonful garam masala
a quarter of a teaspoonful of ground black pepper
2 very large sweet tomatoes, chopped
6 cherry tomatoes, quartered
1 tsp chicken stock powder (or 1 stock cube)
150ml hot water
1-2 tsp runny honey (optional)
10g butter (optional)
15g fresh coriander, chopped (reserve a little for garnish)
cooked white rice to serve.

Method :

Begin by placing the chunks of red pepper, the chunks of onion and the garlic into a food processor and blitz until a purée is achieved.  Set this aside.

Next, heat the coconut oil in a large saucepan or wok until really quite hot and gently add the sliced chicken breasts and sprinkle with the sea salt.  Spread the pieces across the pan and leave them to achieve a little colour, then turn and do the same again.  The slices do not need to be cooked through at this stage.

Using a slotted spoon, remove the chicken to a bowl and reserve.

Add the sliced red pepper and sliced onion to the wok and cook, covered, for 5-6 minutes stirring half way through, until they have gained a little colour and begun to soften.

Add the puree to the wok, along with the curry powder, garam masala and black pepper.  Stir well to combine and fry, stirring occasionally, until the juices are released and the mix has dried out considerably.  This should take around 10 minutes if your wok heat is high enough.

Add the chopped tomatoes and stir through, along with the chicken stock and the water.  Once combined, add the chicken pieces and stir through.  Now this is where the patience is required.  You need to have the pan hot enough that the tomatoes will cook and release their juices, then the juices (and the chicken stock) will reduce and the full flavour be created.  You will start with a quite considerable quantity in the pan, but once everything has cooked down and reduced, the sauce will thicken and the liquid will evaporate.

Marginally before the sauce reaches its final few minutes, taste for the salt level and add a little more if necessary, but remember that there will be a little salt in the butter that if you're using, should be added now.  Taste also for acidity and add the honey to your preference to correct that.  If you consider there's no sweetening required, then don't use the honey.

Once everything is combined and happy to be there, the sauce is thick and there are no pools of water on the surface of the curry, then you're ready to serve.

Serve with plain white Basmati rice and sprinkle with the reserved chopped fresh coriander as garnish.

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Devilled Eggs - now I understand the attraction

I know that people have different opinions of Facebook, however, I love it.  It has enabled me to find out more about what ordinary people in other countries eat, than ever any cookbook would have done.  One of the most regular dishes that I've seen occur across the United States and Canada (ex-pats included) is the humble devilled egg.  Now it turns out that devilled eggs were being served as far back as Ancient Roman times and it seems that just about every country that has chickens, has a recipe for their own version of devilled eggs.

Now I had never experienced a devilled egg, even though I knew they had been popular in this country at one time.  I was intrigued.

Photo by Morgan Davies-Scorer

Eggs are one of my very favourite foods.  I'm well known for declaring that "you'll never be hungry with an egg in the house", such is my confidence in the little lovelies.  Son and heir is also partial to an egg, but with hubby we have to be careful as he is quite obviously on the allergic side of sensitive as regards them.  Consequently, making devilled eggs has never been top of my list.  Until this Christmas when I couldn't stand not knowing any longer and decided to make some.

Photo by Morgan Davies-Scorer

Okay, so now I understand the attraction.  Obviously, you have to like all the component parts of a hard boiled egg to appreciate them.  That's no problem for me, I used to take a hard boiled egg to school for my playtime snack (feel sorry for my classmates, some of those eggs were quite whiffy!).  There's something so moreish about the rich unctuousness of the filling.  The savoury yolk, mixing with the creamy mayonnaise, tangy vinegar, mustardy warmth, buttery richness and the final hit of enlivening chilli from the hot sauce, all encased in the coolness of the set egg white.  Oh and a quick word about the Mic's Chilli "Of Foam & Fury" hot sauce.  Because it has a degree of India Pale Ale as an ingredient, it added an interestingly hoppy angle to the end flavour.  I recommend it!  A devilled egg is so simple - and as with all things simple, so good.

I might have come late to this particular party, but I can see I shall be making up for lost time where devilled eggs are concerned.  I wonder if I've time to put a couple on to hard boil now ....


DEVILLED EGGS   (makes 8 halves)

Ingredients :

4 eggs, hard boiled and shelled
1 tsp English mustard powder
a pinch of ground black pepper
1 tsp soft salted butter
half a tsp celery salt
hot sauce, to taste (I used a quarter tsp Mic's Chilli "Of Foam & Fury" hot sauce)
1 heaped tbsp mayonnaise
half a tsp white wine vinegar
cayenne pepper and fresh parsley, to garnish.

Method :

Cut each egg in half lengthwise (trying to achieve bisecting the yolk in each case).

Gently scoop out the yolk into a bowl, leaving the white intact.

Take a super-fine slice from the underside of the egg, so that it will stand straight on a plate, then reserve.

Break the yolk down into a powder with a fork and add all the ingredients other than the cayenne and parsley.

Mix gently until all is well combined and you have a fairly smooth consistency.

Either fill a piping bag with the mixture, or spoon the mixture carefully into the empty egg whites.  Make sure you gain some height with the filling.

Sprinkle each with a tiny pinch of cayenne and garnish with a parsley leaf.

Refrigerate if the eggs are going to have to wait to be served.

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