Fathima and Ayesha’s Durban chicken curry

Posted on 24 April 2009

I was taught to make this curry in Durban last year with a Muslim family. Since then I’ve modified it to my liking – see my notes below and read the feature.

It’s always a crowd and chilly-night pleaser to a point that Rijk begs me to make it!

You’ll need:
2 potatoes, peeled and quartered
onion, sliced
4 green chillis, slit open down the centre or halved
2 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
6 chicken thighs/drumsticks, skinned or 4 chicken breasts, cubed
3 cinnamon sticks
1 bay leaf
1 tsp fennel seeds
3 curry leaves
1 heaped tsp of ginger-garlic mix
1 tsp turmeric
3 tsp mixed masala powder
tsp egg-yellow colouring
150ml sunflower oil
Salt to taste
Handful of fresh coriander

Here’s how:
Heat the oil in a pot until its hot, throw in the onion and allow it to brown. Add the cinnamon sticks, fennel seeds and bay leaf. Fry for a few seconds, then turn down the heat a little and add the tomatoes, chillis, curry leaves, turmeric, masala powder and ginger-garlic mix. Add the potatoes, egg-yellow colouring and some water and salt to taste and allow to cook for five minutes. Add the chicken and put a lid on the pot for about 20 minutes, checking occasionally. When the potatoes are done, chop a healthy handful of coriander, sprinkle over the top, cover the pot and allow to stand for five minutes. Your curry is ready. Serve with basmati rice and salad or sambals.

Leigh’s notes:

I’ve been making this curry for over a year now and there are a couple of extra things I do.

Firstly, our tomatoes are often not particularly tasty unless you buy organic or grow your own, so you can add a blob of tomato paste with your tomatoes to give it more body.

I always use chicken breasts rather than drummies as they take up less space in the pot and give more meat. I also find that the breast meat absorbs the flavours better.

This is a goodie – when you chop your potatoes, set one quarter aside and slice it into this slivers. Add them along with the rest of the potato and they’ll dissolve, thickening your sauce beautifully.

The last point is don’t rush it. Sure, this curry can be done in half an hour but I way prefer to give it an hour or two to simmer gently. The spices and flavours will mature and soak into your meat and potatoes in a way you wouldn’t believe was possible! Even better is to make it in the morning, simmer for two hours, leave it a pot of the stove for the day then pump heat through it just before serving. And remember, curry is always better the next day.

Enjoy this one, it’s a keeper!

Yours in food
Leigh






yoast-primary -
tcat - Recipes
tcat_slug - recipes-food
tcat2 -
tcat2_slug -
tcat_final - food-and-drink