Wayne’s Chicken Curry Recipe

AUTHOR: Wayne Stanley

CUISINE: Cape-Malay

COURSE: Main

PREP TIME: 30 mins

COOK TIME: 60 mins

TOTAL TIME: 90 mins

SERVES: 6-8

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of onion finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

2 tbsp. Fresh ginger finely chopped or grated

1 green pepper cut into 2cm strips (yellow and or orange peppers can be substituted)

3 jalapeño chili peppers – include the seeds of 2 peppers, finely chopped

1 lemon squeezed juice & zest

796 ml can of crushed tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock

125 ml of apricot jam

16 chicken thighs with the skin intact

2 cups fresh cilantro roughly chopped, reserve 1 cup for garnish

*Optional: 2 handfuls of fresh green beans halved, they add color and crunch.

1-2 tbsp. of canola oil, only if using skinless thighs, otherwise use the rendered fat from frying the chicken.

 

Dry ingredients:

2 tbsp. Garam masala mixture (Garam masala)

1 tbsp. curry powder or 7-8 curry leaves (Curry Tree)

2 tsp. cumin spice

1 tbsp. coriander spice

3 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

**(Make the sides ahead of time – see below)

 

 

  • In a heated large pot, Dutch oven preferably, sauté the chicken thighs starting skin-side down until the skin is golden. Remove the chicken pieces and set them aside.
  • Fry the onions in the rendered fat at medium heat until they are translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.
  • Add garlic, ginger, green pepper and jalapeño peppers, fry for a further 2 minutes.
  • Reduce heat to low, add the dry ingredients, simmer for 2 minutes.
  • Add lemon juice, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, and apricot jam.
  • Return the chicken thighs to the pot and bring to the boil, then reduce to low heat, and cook uncovered for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
  • Start cooking the rice.
  • Add the green beans after about 20 minutes.
  • Taste for seasoning adding salt and pepper to taste.
  • Turn off the heat, add the chopped cilantro, let the curry rest for 5 minutes and serve with the sides and condiments.
  • Garnish with fresh cilantro.

 

 

I prefer the chicken with the skin on and bone in, but you may choose to debone them. When the curry is almost finished remove the chicken thighs, set them aside and allow them to cool down, and then pull the chicken off of the bones with your fingers and return the pieces to the curry. You may choose to do this if you think your guests would not want to use their hands.

 

**SUGGESTED SIDES and CONDIMENTS:

Basmati Rice

“South African style Sambals” – see recipe below

Raita – see one of many recipes below

Sliced banana placed in cow’s milk or coconut milk

Shredded coconut to sprinkle

Fruit Chutney e.g. Mrs. Ball’s

(The addition of the sweet ingredients is the Malaysian influence).

 

BASMATI RICE

2 cups of rice

3 cups of water

2.5 ml of salt

Rinse the rice in cold water, drain and then soak in cold water for 30 minutes.

Bring the water to boil in a medium-sized pot. Add rice and salt. Stir and cover. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Let stand covered for 10 minutes. Add butter to taste and fluff with a fork.

 

SOUTH AFRICAN STYLE SAMBALS

Sambals are served with most Cape Malay dishes – cool with spicy dishes and warm with bland dishes. Sambals must be crisp and keep their color so are best made just before the meal.

2 fresh tomatoes chopped fine

1 onion chopped fine

1 jalapeño chili pepper chopped fine

125 ml white wine vinegar

75 ml water

1 tsp. sugar

Combine all of the ingredients in a dish that can be covered and place in the fridge.

Serve in small individual dishes with the curry.

 

RAITA

1 cup of Greek yogurt

I cup of sour cream

1 cucumber coarsely grated, squeeze as much water out as you can

1 tsp. cumin seeds

1-2 sprigs of fresh mint

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients in a dish that can be covered and place in the fridge.

Serve in small individual dishes with the curry.

 

Wine Pairing:

Although it is difficult to pair wine with foods containing chilies consider these.

White: (fruity) Pinot Gris, Riesling, Sauvignon /Fumé Blanc

Red: (soft and fruity) Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Zinfandel

 

© Wayne Stanley 2016
WAYNE’S CHICKEN CURRY RECIPE by Wayne Stanley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

A Curry Journey from East to South

Eating curries, from a young age, launched me on a spicy mission.  This ongoing pursuit of a new blend of spices and of the perfect curry has made for an incredible culinary journey.

In Natal, South Africa where I was raised, I am one of a few fortunate people to have an East Indian”Aunty”, who blends the spices for masala and curry spice mixture. This “Aunty”, well actually she is my brother’s and he keeps me in steady supply, made the masala and curry spice mixture used in the recipe below.  The particular blends of spices are mostly determined by the Aunty, of course, but over the years, she has learned what we like.

This doesn’t mean I don’t explore other spice combinations.  I do BYH, Broaden Your Horizons™,  and tackle other spice blends and curry recipes, which makes the journey unique and so much fun.

For me, curry embraces the terms soul food and comfort food. It is seductive and bold. Once you have been lured down this hot path, your palate will demand good seasoning of any meal. Even though my palate does appreciate subtle flavours, it is forever corrupted and tempted to add some hot sauce to all bland dishes.

The word curry is derived from kari, a word in Tamil simply meaning sauce.

Along the Coromandel Coast of South-East India, Fort St George is to be found, where Tamil merchants introduced the British East India Company to Kari, which they took to mean vegetables and/or meat cooked with spices with or without a gravy. Fort St George was renamed Madras and again changed, to Chennai, in 1996.

Nevertheless, the term ‘Madras Curry’ is not used in India, as it was really coined by restaurants in Britain.

The myriad variations of those curries from Madras are dictated by each home cook.  Local ingredients and their availability, add to the variations that exist all over the world.
Madras curries are distinguished by the:
  • Colour, the red of chilli paprika or a mixture of both, and the orange of turmeric
  • Spiciness of Garam masala [Garam(hot) Masala (spice mixture). The name masala coming from the Hindi word for spice], black peppercorns and chillies
  • Sleekness of coconut (or yogurt)
  • Sweet and sour fruitiness of tamarind, lemon, lime or vinegar
  • Pungency of garlic and onion or asafoetida
  • Licorice-taste of anise and ginger
  • Salt
  • Oil may be ghee (clarified butter) or coconut
  • Fresh curry leaves or cilantro (fresh coriander) can be added at the end
  • If meat is used it may be lamb, beef, or chicken. When made of beef or lamb it is called Gosht Madras.

The variations include the roasting of many of the spices including dried chillies, coriander seed, aniseed, cumin, and cinnamon.  These dried roasted ingredients are ground in a mortar and pestle or coffee grinder and mixed with turmeric. Storage also lends itself to the variations, by being stored as a powder, a paste with vinegar or as an oil spice infusion.

Common accompaniments to Madras curry include raita and fresh coriander (cilantro). Southern India is more likely to have rice as the main carbohydrate than bread like naan.

The Flavours of History claims the origins of the word curry to be from old English first recorded in ‘The Forme of Cury’ although, in this case, “cury” merely means “cooking”.

That is just a short note about the East Indian origin of curry, but it has travelled far and picked up countless influences at the stops along the way. Influences that have led to East Indian friends living abroad to share that their mothers and aunties, who still live in India, constantly critique their curry dishes and not always favourably.

Right now I would like to take you on a quick East-South trip to one of those stops, to the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa where there is a strong Malaysian influence on curry dishes. Here a people originated and became known as the Cape-Malays. They created many delectable Cape-Malay dishes that are still great favourites today.

Here is my Chicken Curry recipe, with Cape-Malay influences.

WAYNE’S CHICKEN CURRY RECIPE

 

AUTHOR: Wayne Stanley

CUISINE: Cape-Malay

COURSE: Main

PREP TIME: 30 mins

COOK TIME: 60 mins

TOTAL TIME: 90 mins

SERVES: 6-8

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup of onion finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic finely chopped

2 tbsp. Fresh ginger finely chopped or grated

1 green pepper cut into 2cm strips (yellow and or orange peppers can be substituted)

3 jalapeño chilli peppers – include the seeds of 2 peppers, finely chopped

1 lemon squeezed juice

796 ml can of crushed tomatoes

1 cup chicken stock

125 ml of apricot jam

16 chicken thighs with the skin intact

1 cup fresh cilantro roughly chopped

*Optional: 2 handfuls of fresh green beans halved, they add colour and crunch.

1-2 tbsp. of canola oil, if using skinless thighs, otherwise use the rendered fat that is rendered from the chicken skin when frying.

 

Dry ingredients:

2 tbsp. masala mixture

1 tbsp. curry powder

2 tsp. cumin spice

1 tbsp. coriander spice

3 bay leaves

salt and pepper to taste

 

DIRECTIONS:

 

**(Make the sides ahead of time – see below)

 

 

  • In a heated large pot, Dutch oven preferably, sauté the chicken thighs starting skin-side down until the skin is golden. Remove the chicken pieces and set them aside.
  • Fry the onions in the rendered fat at medium heat until they are translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent sticking.
  • Add garlic, ginger, green pepper and jalapeño peppers, fry for a further 2 minutes.
  • Reduce heat to low, add the dry ingredients, simmer for 2 minutes.
  • Add lemon juice, crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, and apricot jam.
  • Return the chicken thighs to the pot and bring to the boil, then reduce to low heat, and cook uncovered for 30 minutes. Stir occasionally.
  • Start cooking the rice.
  • Add the green beans after about 20 minutes.
  • Taste for seasoning adding salt and pepper to taste.
  • Turn off the heat, add the chopped cilantro, let the curry rest for 5 minutes and serve with the sides and condiments.

 

 

I prefer  the chicken with the skin on and bone in, but you may choose to debone them. When the curry is almost finished remove the chicken thighs, set them aside and allow them to cool down, and then pull the chicken off of the bones with your fingers and return the pieces to the curry. You may choose to do this if you think your guests would not want to use their hands.

 

**SUGGESTED SIDES and CONDIMENTS:

Basmati Rice

“South African style Sambals” – see recipe below

Raita – see one of many recipes below

Sliced banana placed in cow’s milk or coconut milk

Shredded coconut to sprinkle

Fruit Chutney e.g. Mrs. Ball’s

(The addition of the sweet ingredients is the Malaysian influence).

 

BASMATI RICE

2 cups of rice

3 cups of water

2.5 ml of salt

Rinse the rice in cold water, drain and then soak in cold water for 30 minutes.

Bring the water to boil in a medium sized pot. Add rice and salt. Stir and cover. Simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. Let stand covered for 10 minutes. Add butter to taste and fluff with a fork.

 

SOUTH AFRICAN STYLE SAMBALS

Sambals are served with most Cape Malay dishes – cool with spicy dishes and warm with bland dishes. Sambals must be crisp and keep their color so are best made just before the meal.

2 fresh tomatoes chopped fine

1 onion chopped fine

1 jalapeño chili pepper chopped fine

125 ml white wine vinegar

75 ml water

1 tsp. sugar

Combine all of the ingredients in a dish that can be covered and place in the fridge.

Serve in small individual dishes with the curry.

 

RAITA

1 cup of greek yogurt

I cup of sour cream

1 cucumber coarsely grated

1 tsp. cumin seeds

1-2 sprigs of fresh mint

salt and pepper to taste

Combine all of the ingredients in a dish that can be covered and place in the fridge.

Serve in small individual dishes with the curry.

 

Wine Pairing:

Although it is difficult to pair wine with foods containing chilies consider these.

White: (fruity) Pinot Gris, Riesling, Sauvignon /Fumé Blanc

Red: (soft and fruity) Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Zinfandel
© Wayne Stanley 2016

I hope you enjoy making and eating this curry. Please feel free to experiment with it and let me know how it turned out.

 

 

WAYNE’S CHICKEN CURRY RECIPE by Wayne Stanley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Brodetto, and Vanilla Pannacotta

So yesterday I decided to treat my wife, as I do on a regular basis, in case that typical thought popped into your head. As I am currently unemployed I have become the houseboy, which is not a completely accurate description, as I do not have to perform any undesirable tasks for the mistress of the house. But I am straying way off topic right now. We can always explore this further at another time.

As much as I have spent many wonderful and fruitful hours in the kitchen, I’m not a baker nor a dessert maker, but I’d watched a guy on TV describe making pannacotta with such pleasure, that I was inspired to try making it from scratch.

Pannacotta is an Italian dessert of sweetened cream thickened with gelatin and molded. It can then be flavored with many options like brandy, coffee, fruit or vanilla, as in this recipe. The recipe called for gelatin which I have never ever used before. Dutifully I followed the instructions adding a tablespoon of cold water to the gelatin powder and ended up with a sticky ball the size of a grape inside the whisk. The dissolved gelatin was supposed to be poured, which was clearly not going to happen with this glutinous little rival. So I checked the instructions on the gelatin package, (yeah-yeah), I hear it, R.T.F.M., which says to use hot water to dissolve the powder into. Finally, I had a clear liquid that could be poured. With an immense sense of accomplishment, I could measure this warm rich vanilla flavoured liquid into some ramekin dishes, and popped them in the fridge.

I then proceeded to prepare the Brodetto.

Brodetto is Italian fish stew, and there are multiple variations on the recipe. I chose Brodetto Ancona style.

The recipe I chose called for red snapper. As there is no fishmonger in the little town where I live, I headed off to the supermarket, only to find out that there was no red snapper available. The young girl, I swear could not be older than 16, behind the deli counter assured me that the fresh rockfish that was on display is a suitable substitute. Not really convinced of that, I bought the rockfish fillets.

Once I arrived home, and a quick search on Google, I confirmed that she was, in fact, right about the Pacific Rockfish, also known as Pacific Red Snapper.

So along with fresh clams, 3 tiny lobster tails and bay scallops my first attempt at this fish stew began its life. The rockfish turned out to be succulent bathed in the tomato-rich broth with toasted yeasty Italian bread on the side for one of the servings and smothered with the stew for the other serving. The clams and scallops still held their individual flavours. This may be a peasant meal but it made me feel like I owned the sea.

I served the Pannacotta on shortbread slices, with warmed orange marmalade on top which oozed down the sides like molten lava melting the Pannacotta along its way. I believe I’ve converted my wife to a dessert lover, well at least to a Vanilla Pannacotta lover.

I am not sorry, or maybe just a little, that there isn’t a single photo, as the plates were polished off.

Cuban Seafood at Lenny’s Bar and Grill

 

 

note the lid on the bin
Lenny’s Bar and Grill, Cayo Coco, Cuba.

Lenny’s Bar and Grill at Playa Prohibido, Cayo Coco, Cuba is a destination experience, it certainly was for us, having picked it to celebrate my 50th birthday.

 

From the 50’s Chevy in the parking lot, the rustic wooden bar to the makeshift kitchen, this is a piece of Cuba that I hope will be preserved. New resorts may start to sprout like mushrooms, but that is also dependant on how the, now symbolic, US  embargo pans out.

 

 

Lenny's Bar and Grill, Cayo Coco, Cuba
The purple Chevy at Lenny’s Bar and Grill.

 

 

The distinguishing feature of Lenny’s is the dozens of Canadian car registration plates, which cannot be missed as you enter the place, and gaze up. Concentric rings of plates are mounted on the underside of the low hanging grass roof.

Registration plates -99% Canadian
Registration plates -99% Canadian

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is only one dish to order, hence no menu, plain yet delicious. Grilled lobster, fried fish and prawns, plain rice, slaw and a few slices of cucumber and tomato. Of course,  it was washed down with copious amounts of ice-cold beer and cheap white wine.

Sitting on rattan chairs at plastic covered wooden tables,  just a few metres from the turquoise sea, with a light breeze blowing and a bright sun.

The lobster was a little over grilled, the coleslaw under seasoned, but these become trivialities when you consider the big picture, the ambience that makes things taste a thousand times better. 

I almost forgot the rooster! Yes, the meal is accompanied by the  crowing of a rooster, coming from somewhere behind the restaurant. Just another incongruous feature to add to the ambience.

I left my Tilley hat there, but the entire adventure made me happy.

There is more to tell, but I’ll let you explore Lenny’s further on your own. There is an interesting story behind its name.

Salty tip of the week

If a recipe calls for sweet butter or unsalted butter, then check if salt is included in the list of ingredients, and if not, then add salt to taste.

The difference between sweet and churned butter is that salt is added in the churning process. Unsalted butter must be used soon, as it does not stay fresh.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all my family and friends.
Voorspoedige Nuwe Jaar aan al my familie en vriende.
Bonne Année à tous ma famille et amis.
Buon anno a tutti i miei amici e parenti.

Thank you to all my readers, and hope to see you in 2016.

Remember to take everything I say with a pinch of salt!

Salt spilled from blue-glass salt shaker.
Salt spilled from blue-glass salt shaker.

Salty tip of the Week

When baking, anything from bread to pies, it is essential to add salt, even if just a pinch, for taste. It is so easy to taste the difference between unsalted and salted bread or pastry. Pastry chefs agree. Why salt is important in baking.

 

Vongole Arrabbiata, chile spiced clams

Two good reasons for sharing this recipe, that I discovered in another blog, A Food Obsession.

Firstly, it is a tasty dish, and really easy to prepare.

Secondly, in the description of the dish, the writer makes a comment, that is an essential cooking tip. You can always add salt, but you cannot remove it, from a dish.

We have all fallen into this trap, at some time. In my case, usually, the reason is that I have not been tasting the dish frequently enough, or have simply overlooked the amounts of salt or seasoning in the recipe. This is, of course, another reason for under seasoning a dish, but that is easily remedied.

An easy way to be thrown off is when cooking with bouillon or stock, as the salt content can vary enormously. So, now I have learned to taste the stock on its own, and to taste the dish after it has been added.

Tasting throughout the cooking process is the cardinal rule.

Now relax, and savor this recipe.

 

Source: VONGOLE ARRABBIATA, CHILE SPICED CLAMS

What is Salt?

 

Salt, any salt! my kingdom for some salt.

What is Salt? Common salt, or sodium chloride, is the chemical compound NaCl. Salt occurs naturally in many parts of the world as the mineral halite and as mixed evaporites in salt lakes and salt oceans. Salt varies in color from colorless, when pure, to white, gray or brownish, typical of rock salt (halite).

Source: What is Salt? | SaltWorks