Ever heard of a chicken curry that is so low in effort but high on flavour that you’d be surprised how delicious it tastes? When you’re pressed for time and craving a bowl of comforting chicken curry, this recipe comes to your rescue; in that, it involves zero chopping and hardly any effort on your part to throw this together. Although this recipe doesn’t call for the additional step of marinating the meat, doing so would help the flavours penetrate more effectively, even if it sits for 20-25 minutes.
Because of the minimal usage of ingredients, all from your pantry, this recipe merges flavours from Indian and Chinese cuisine, giving it a tangy-umami taste, unlike any other chicken curry you might have come across, so far. With no particular origin story other than a shortage of time that might have led to the creation of this curry, it works wonders when paired with flaky, Malabar parottas or lacy neer dosas. As a culture that has been known to fuse flavours from across the world and incorporate it into everyday, home-style cooking, this chicken curry is one recipe you’d keep coming back to over and over.
Recipe:
Ingredients
- 250 grams chicken, curry cut pieces
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoon cornflour
- 2 tablespoon red chilli powder paste
- 1 pinch asafoetida
- 4-5 curry leaves
- 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- Salt to taste
Method
- Wash and clean the pieces of chicken thoroughly and marinate with a bit of salt and chilli powder for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the cornflour in a quarter cup of water and set aside, along with the chicken.
- Heat the oil in a pan and add the curry leaves, asafoetida and mustard seeds to temper. Add in the marinated chicken and fry on all sides on a medium-high flame for 3-4 minutes, until they start to deepen in colour.
- Add the soy sauce, chilli paste and season lightly with salt. Mix everything together and add a bit of water. Cover and cook for about 10-12 minutes before adding the cornflour slurry and letting the gravy become slightly thick and starts to resemble a glaze.
- Turn off the heat and garnish with lots of chopped spring onions, if needed. Serve hot.