Chicken Achari

I normally try to keep things simpler than this recipe, but our favorite Indian restaurant stopped doing Achari a while ago and I can’t live without it! I found a nice recipe, made some modifications and it’s every bit as good as a restaurant curry.

Serves 4-6

Ingredients

• 1lb (½kg) of chicken breast, diced
• 2 tablespoons of natural yoghurt
• ½ cup of vegetable oil or ghee
• 1 Spanish onion
• 1½” ginger, finely grated
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 cup of tomato purée mixed with 1 cup of water
• Salt
• 1½ tsp of chilli powder
• 1 tsp of turmeric
  

For the spice mix:

• 6 whole dry red chillies
• 1 tsp fenugreek seeds
• 1 heaped tsp of onion seeds
• 1 tsp of black mustard seeds
• 1″ stick of cinnamon
• 1½ tsp of fennel seeds
• 3 cloves

Method

1. In a freezer bag, place the chicken, yoghurt, salt (to taste) and ½ tsp of turmeric. Agitate to mix the ingredients and leave to one side.
2. Meanwhile, heat a dry frying pan over a medium heat and add the spice mix ingredients. Heat for 7-8  minutes, stirring and mixing constantly to get a good even dry roast. Allow to cool and grind, but not too finely.
3. Heat oil in a large wok or saucepan and add onions. Caramelise until brown.
4. Add grated ginger and minced garlic and stir fry for a further 5 minutes. Add the spice mix  and half a teaspoon of turmeric and blend thoroughly.
5. Add the chicken pieces and cook until white on all sides. Add the tomatoes, ½ tsp of turmeric, chilli powder and season with salt. Cook until the mixture begins to bubble.
6. Add 2 cups of water, stir until boiling and then cover the pan. Cook on a slow boil until the chicken is cooked through.
7. To increase the thickness of the sauce to your liking, remove the cover and cook until desired consistency is achieved. Ideally, the sauce should be about as thick as passata.
8. Serve hot with turmeric rice and garlic and cheese naan.

This curry is not for the faint-hearted. Reduce the amount of chillies and reduce or omit the chilli powder if you don’t like the feeling of having a small incinerator in your mouth!