Chicken Chaat

 

Chicken Chaat

There are two stages to this curry, the first is to make the base curry sauce, this base can be used to make a number of different curries but for this recipe we will be using it to make chicken chaat.

Base curry

• 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 2 brown onions, finely chopped
• 1 pepper, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 large tomato, seeded and finely chopped
• 1 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
• 1/4 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp ground fenugreek
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1 litre of water

Heat the oil in large pan over a medium heat.  Add the onions and peppers and sauté until softened and then add the remaining ingredients but not the water.  Stir everything well and fry for a minute or so before adding a quarter of the water.  Turn the heat up and let the sauce simmer until the water has evaporated by around half.  Add another quarter of the water and then blend the sauce with a stick blender or transfer to a blender and blitz until smooth.  Add the remaining water and that pretty much is it, the sauce should be quite thin at this stage which is how it should be.  This recipe will make 3 portions of base curry sauce, so you can freeze the other two portions (1 and 3/4 cups per portion).

Now on to make the chicken chaat

• 3 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
• 2 tbsp good quality curry powder
• 1 tsp chilli powder
• 2 tbsp chaat masala
• Third of a tube of tomato purée
• 1 and 3/4 cups of base curry sauce
• 800g of cooked chicken
• 1/3 cucumber, peeled and deseeded and cut into chunks
• 1 pepper, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 150g drained chickpeas
• 1 large tomato cut into wedges
• Big pinch of salt
• Handful of chopped coriander

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, add the onion and fry until softened.  Add the garlic/ginger paste and stir through and allow to sizzle for a minute.  Next mix in the curry powder, chilli powder, chaat masala and the tomato purée.  Let this sizzle for another minute before adding the base curry sauce and let it simmer for 5 minutes before adding the chicken and let it cook for 10 minutes before adding the cucumber, chickpeas, pepper and tomato wedges and a good pinch of salt, stir through and cook for a further couple of minutes before serving with a sprinkle of the coriander on top.

I served the curry with basmati rice, naan bread, pickles and tomato, onion, coriander chutney and a selection of bhajis and samosas and boy was it good.  This recipe will serve 4 comfortably and more if you are making additional dishes to accompany the chaat.  

This is so quick and easy to make, I made the base sauce earlier in the day and then it took no time at all to make the chicken chaat.  Watch this space for other curry recipes to make using the base curry sauce!