Dish of Spicy Chicken Hearts
(click to enlarge)

Spicy Chicken Hearts


India - Southwest
Makes:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 4 side
**
3-1/4 hrs
Yes		 Delicious, but a bit too intense to be a main dish. A good side dish, appetizer, or one of several items on an Asian table with flat bread or rice. In India chicken hearts are expensive, so reserved for special occasions.

1
9
5
3
1/2
1
1/2
1/2
1-1/2
2/3
1/2
1
1
#
oz

cl
in
t
t
t
T
c
t
T
T
Chicken hearts (1)  
Onion
Chili, Green (2)
Garlic
Ginger root
Peppercorns
Cumin seed
Turmeric
Oil (3)
Water
Salt
Vinegar (4)
Cilantro
PREP   -   (20 min)
  1. Rinse CHICKEN HEARTS well.
  2. Chop ONION fine.
  3. Slit CHILIS open lengthwise.
  4. Crush GARLIC and chop fine. Slice GINGER very thin and chop fine. Mix and pound to paste in a mortar.
  5. Grind CUMIN,and PEPPERCORNS to powder in a mortar or spice grinder. Mix together with Turmeric.
  6. Chop CILANTRO fine.
RUN   -   (2-3/4 hr)
  1. In a spacious sauté pan heat Oil and fry Onions stirring over moderate heat until translucent.
  2. Stir in Garlic mix and Chilis. Fry stirring until garlic threatens to color.
  3. Stir in the Cumin mix just until well distributed, then stir in Hearts and Water. Bring to a boil, then turn to a simmer. Simmer covered until hearts are reasonably tender, about 2-1/2 hours (hearts are tough).
  4. When Hearts are ready, uncover and reduce liquid to the amount desired. The pattern recipe calls for quite dry, but I like it a little more liquid.
  5. Fish out the Chilis. Stir in Vinegar and Cilantro and take off the heat.
  6. Serve hot with flat bread (particularly Parota) or steamed Jasmine rice.
NOTES:

  1. Chicken Hearts:

      These are not as common as gizzards but can be found in many of the same ethnic markets were gizzards are sold (just about any eth except North Americans). Here in California they're sold all cleaned up and ready to cook.

  2. Green Chili:

      Here you must use your own best judgement. These should be Indian long green chilis, and they should be hot ones (southern cuisine) but those aren't available even here in Los Angles. I use easily available green Thai chilis, nearly identical to Indian Dhani chilis. Five largish (2 inch) Thai chilis makes for a rather fiery dish, so you may wish to start with just two, or even just one if you're from Wisconsin. For details see our Indian Chilis page.

  3. Oil:

      The pattern recipe calls for Coconut Oil, which would be the correct oil for the far south of India. If I didn't have it on hand I'd use Pure Olive Oil (NOT virgin).

  4. Vinegar:

      This is an unusual ingredient in India, except in areas influenced by the Portuguese (and to a lesser extent the English), particularly along the southwest coast. Preferably use a good coconut vinegar, or lacking that a good cane vinegar. Both are easily available in markets serving a Philippine community (around here, near any major medical center - our health care system runs on Filipino immigrants).
  5. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
isc_chkheart1 120315 pattern recipe from pachakam.com   -   www.clovegarden.com
©Andrew Grygus - agryg@aaxnet.com - Linking to and non-commercial use of this page is permitted.