Cape Malay Chicken Curry
The addition of canned tomatoes bring a nice tang to this unique Cape Malay Chicken Curry recipe. This is a mildly spicy curry for everyone.
- Prep time
- 20 min
- Cook time
- 50 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp oil
- 1 medium onion (finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp ginger (finely chopped)
- 1 tsp chili flakes (or fresh hot peppers to taste)
- 1+1/2 tsp coriander seeds
- 2 tsp fennel (ground, or 4 tsp whole fennel seeds)
- 1+1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1/2-1 tsp black pepper (coarsely ground)
- 15 cardamom pods (whole pods)
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp garam masala
- 14 oz can crushed tomatoes (or diced tomatoes)
- 1+1/2 lb chicken pieces
- 2 tsp garlic (finely chopped)
- 2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 2-3 tsp salt
Instructions
- 1
Put the 7 spices -- from the coriander seeds down to the garam masala -- in a mortar and pestle. Pound them together so the cardamom pods burst and the whole thing becomes a mess of spices. Discard the skin of cardamom pods. Continue to pound the spices until they become like a powder.
- 2
Heat the oil in a pot, add the onion and ginger over fairly high heat, and stir occasionally for a few minutes. Add the chili flakes and spices and stir for 2 minutes. You might need to add more oil (Spices slurp up oil as they fry)
- 3
Add the can of crushed tomatoes and stir. Cook until everything bubbles up together.
- 4
Add the chicken pieces, and stir to coat well, keeping heat high until everything is bubbling away. Turn the heat down, put on a lid, and simmer for about 20 minutes.
- 5
Add the garlic, sugar, lemon juice and salt to the curry. Cover with lid but leave a small opening for a steam to escape; simmer for 15 minutes or longer. Taste the sauce, and adjust seasoning according to your taste.
- 6
Near the end of cooking, skim off extra oil/fat with a spoon, as it collects in corners of the pot, if needed. Serve the curry warm with rice.