It’s fragrant, like all great curries, but it’s more of a dry South Indian style of curry, unlike the saucy North Indian curries served in so many Indian restaurants around the world.
Justin says…
The walls in my family house are pretty much stained with the scent of my mum’s chicken curry. But it wasn’t until my young adult years, when I moved out of home, that I started to appreciate it. At home, I never thought about making Indian food – it was always on the table – but now it’s my favourite dish. It’s fragrant, like all great curries, but it’s more of a dry South Indian style of curry, unlike the saucy North Indian curries served in so many Indian restaurants around the world.
Let me explain how it works. It has to be a whole chicken, broken down with the bones – bone-in, which gives it richness and depth. There’s this harmony of spices that gets you salivating.
From a Western perspective, the meat is overcooked just slightly. You might say it’s a culinary no-no, but it gives the chicken more texture and chew that allows you to extract the full flavour of spice imparted into the chicken, yet at the same time it’s balanced with the juicy morsels of perfectly cooked dark meat.
I will always think about home when I eat it, and maybe when you try it, you’ll understand a bit of my home, too.
Everything Is Indian by Justin Narayan, with photography by Rob Palmer, is out now through Murdoch Books.
The OG Curry (Murgi Tarkari)
Ingredients
Serves 4-6
1 whole chicken
1 tablespoon lemon juice (about ½ lemon)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
¼ cup light olive oil
¼ teaspoon each of cumin seeds and black mustard seeds
⅛ teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1 brown onion, roughly diced or sliced
1 sprig fresh curry leaves
3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
10g fresh ginger, finely grated
1½ teaspoons ground coriander
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon chilli powder
½ bunch of fresh coriander leaves and stems, roughly chopped
Rice
1 cup uncooked jasmine or basmati rice
Marie Rose Sauce
2 teaspoons honey
2 cups atta flour, plus extra if needed
2 tablespoons olive oil
Method
Using a heavy cleaver, or sharp knife and some muscle, break down the chicken into roughly 3–4 cm pieces, keeping the meat on the bone. Place the chicken pieces in a bowl with the lemon juice and soy sauce and mix. Let it sit for 30 minutes (this will keep the chicken firm during the cooking).
Meanwhile, wash the rice until the water runs clear. Drain the rice, then put in a saucepan with 2 cups of water. Bring to a simmer – this will take about 5 minutes. Turn the heat to low and cover with a lid. Let it cook for 15 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it sit for another 10–15 minutes (don’t touch it; keep that lid on). Once the timer is up, you have perfect rice and now you can do anything in life.
Back to the curry: heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium–high heat, then add the whole spices and toast until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the onion and cook until it starts to turn golden brown. Add the curry leaves, garlic, ginger and powdered spices and cook for 1–2 minutes. Add the chicken and the soy marinade and mix in. Season with a little pinch of salt, cover with a lid and cook, stirring every 5–10 minutes for 20–30 minutes.
For the roti, boil 1½ cups of water, leave it for 5 minutes, then mix in the honey until dissolved. Place the flour and half the oil in a bowl and mix with your hands, then slowly add the honey water. Mix with a fork until it’s a dry, shaggy mess. At this point, it should be cool enough to use your hands, so knead it into a dough on a clean work surface. Add the remaining oil and knead some more until you have a soft, smooth and playdough-like dough, about 5–10 minutes all up. Make adjustments with extra flour or hot water if you need to. Cover the dough with a damp tea towel and rest in a warm environment for 5 minutes, then divide into golf ball-sized balls. Dust the work surface with extra flour and roll each ball out until it’s 1–2 mm thick. Heat a frying pan over medium–high heat, then cook one roti for 20–30 seconds on one side. Flip and cook for 30–45 seconds on the other side. Do a third and flip and cook for another 30 seconds: you’re looking for a bit of browning and some puffing up. Set aside under a clean tea towel, stacking each following roti to keep them warm.
When you’re finished, garnish the curry with fresh coriander and serve with roti and rice.
Published in ed#733