Words by Tessa Kiros. Photo by Manos Chatzikonstantis.
I am grateful for my friend Ashok in Pondicherry – a wonderful chef, who taught me many delicious recipes. This boneless chicken is spiced and battered, then fried with curry leaves and onions. The different flours give a good crispness and flavour. If you don’t have chickpea flour, just add extra rice flour. Ashok says he sometimes whisks an egg and adds it, too.
This is one of my daughters’ favourites! I serve it with a smooth lemon chutney and raita. If you don’t make the chutney, serve the chicken with a few drops of lime juice squeezed over instead.
Order Tessa Kiros’ new cookbook Now & Then: A Collection of Recipes for Always.
Chicken 65
Ingredients
- 2 5 cm (2 in) pieces ginger, roughly chopped (about 40 g/1½ oz)
- 4 garlic cloves
- 1 green chilli, deseeded and very finely chopped (or chilli powder)
- 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) skinless chicken breast
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
- 2 teaspoons garam masala
- 1 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of black pepper
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
- a handful of small curry leaves, fresh or frozen, about 30
- 100 g (3½ oz) full-fat natural yoghurt or curd
- 1 heaped tablespoon cornflour, cornstarch
- 1 heaped tablespoon rice flour
- 2 tablespoons chickpea flour, besan
- 4 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus extra if needed
- 1 large white onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon cumin seeds
- 260 g (9¼ oz/1 cup) full-fat natural yoghurt or curd
- ½ green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped (or a little chilli powder)
- 2 tablespoons chopped white onion
- 80 g (2¾ oz) cucumber, peeled, seeds removed and chopped quite small
- 1 teaspoon dried mint
- lemon chutney or 1 lime cut into quarters
Instructions
- Crush the ginger and garlic in a mortar to a paste, then add the chopped chilli and mash a bit more (you should get about 3 heaped teaspoons). Put into a bowl. Trim the chicken and cut into large chunky strips of about 7 x 3 cm (2¾ x 1¼ in), then add to the bowl together with the ground spices, salt, pepper, vinegar and sugar. Add half the curry leaves (torn in half if they are big) and yoghurt and mix through, then leave to marinate for 2–3 hours in the fridge.
- Half an hour before frying, remove the bowl from the fridge and add the 3 flours. Mix through and leave at room temperature.
- Prepare the raita. Put the yoghurt into a bowl. Add the chilli, onion, cucumber, ½ teaspoon of salt and a couple of grinds of black pepper. Crumble the mint between your fingers into the bowl. Mix through, then taste and adjust the seasoning if needed.
- To cook the chicken, heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. When hot, add the chicken coated in batter (if a couple of the pieces are clumped together it is fine, you can separate them with a wooden spoon whilecooking). Cook on a fairly high heat until it gets a deep golden crust on the underside. Turn the chicken over with a pair of tongs and cook until deep golden on all sides, trying not to fiddle and turn too many times. Remove the chicken and bits to a platter for serving.
- Add the onions and the rest of the curry leaves to the pan. If the pan looksdry, add a couple of splashes more oil. Lower the heat a little and keep cooking the onions until golden and sticky-looking and the curry leaves are crisping. Scatter the cumin seeds in and cook for a couple of minutes more. Add the onions to the chicken on the platter.
- Eat warm, with the raita and a little lemon chutney.
Now & Then: A Collection of Recipes for Always by Tessa Kiros (Murdoch Books, £30). Photography by Manos Chatzikonstantis.