Chicken Potato Chickpea Curry
Posted by Carson on February 24th, 2009This is a curry that more-or-less started around the same time Rebecca and I started dating. It’s based roughly off the preparation for Rogan Josh, but it’s been adapted. It’s also probably not an authentic curry, since we’re both pretty white. Still, it is delicious, and—apart from the time involved preparing it—not that difficult.
Curry over steamed jasmine rice, with fresh cilantro.
- olive oil
- ½ medium onion
- 1 clove of garlic
- 3 tsp. tumeric
- 1 tsp. garam masala
- 2 tsp. allspice
- 2 tsp. coriander seed
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 2 tsp. red chili powder
- 3 tsp. curry powder
- 1 tsp. ground ginger
- 1 diced chicken breast
- 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
- 2 large potatoes, cooked and cubed
- 1 can whole plum tomatoes, chopped into small pieces
- 4 tbsp. plain yogurt, balkan style
- roughly chopped cilantro (garnish)
First, sauté the onion and garlic in oil in a large pot, until the onion has started to become translucent. Add all of your spices, and stir this mixture together for a few minutes over medium heat with a sturdy wooden spoon. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the pan frequently, otherwise your spices will burn. Add in the diced chicken, and stir to coat with spice mixture. Continuously stir this over medium-high heat until the meat has been browned.
The above process is what’s known as “dry roasting”. This will bring out the full flavour of your spices, and at the same time, coat the meat. Just be sure to pay attention, or you’ll have burnt spices, and a smoke-alarm to tend to.
Add in the tomato pieces and the juice from the tin. Stir and turn down to a simmer for five minutes. Add in the chickpeas and potatoes, stirring occasionally, for about two hours. Hopefully you’ll find something else to do, because at this point, the excitement is over. The dish will technically be done sooner, but if you allow this much time (or more) the flavours will really come together. About 30 minutes before you’re ready to serve, stir in the yogurt. This would also be a great time to start cooking your rice. I’d suggest adding the juice of half a lemon to the boiling water for the rice, it balances nice with this hearty curry. Serve with cilantro for garnish.
- We usually make this dish more than twice a month. It is subject to ingredient changes, but the flavour base always stays the same.
- Suggestions if you’re tired of chicken: lamb, tofu, or even turkey. Experiment!
- The more yogurt added, the creamier the sauce. Our recommended quantity yields a fairly creamy curry, and helps tone the spiciness.
- If you want more vegetables, peas and cauliflower work very well here. We suggest steaming the cauliflower beforehand, and adding it to the curry 1 hour in.
- Naan bread works very well here, as the curry is fairly thick.
Tags: chicken, chickpea, comfort food, curry, dinner, potato
Hi there!
What a sweet little blog, sorry to see it never made it past February. Any chance you’d want to start it up again via the Charlatan? I’m the paper’s op/ed editor and I’m trying to spice up the blog section (we still have a lot of revamping to do on the site) … would you be interested in reviving “A Little Kitchen” as a Charlablog with a link to this site??