Dish of Chicken Curry Parsee
(click to enlarge)

Chicken Curry Parsee


Chicken Curry Parsee
Serves:
Effort:
Sched:
DoAhead:  		 2 main
***
1-1/3 hrs
Yes		 This intensely red (and intensely delicious) curry is made in the Parsee community of Mumbai. The recipe as given produces a lot of sauce, so it can be expanded with more chicken or potatoes (see Notes 6 and 7).

1-1/4
9
------
1/4
1/2
2
4
1/2
2
3
2
1/2
------
2
1/4
3
1/4
------
3
14
2/3
1/3
#
oz
---
t
t


in

T
T
t
---
cl
in
oz
t
---
T
oz
t
t
Chicken meat (1)
Tomatoes
-- Spices
Cumin Seed
Coriander Seed
Cloves
Peppercorns
Cassia Stick (2)
Cardamom, green  
Kashmir Chili (3)
Paprika (4)
Salt
-- Paste
Garlic
Ginger Root
Onions
Sesame Seed
----------
Oil
Coconut Milk
Vinegar, cane (5)
Garam Masala
PREP   -   (25 min)
  1. Cut CHICKEN into bite size pieces.
  2. Scald TOMATOES 1 minute in boiling water, quench in cold water, peel and chop fine.
  3. Reduce all Spices items to powder in your spice grinder.
  4. Crush GARLIC and chop fine. Slice GINGER very thin and chop fine. Chop ONION fine. Pound to paste in a mortar adding in this order, Sesame Seeds, Ginger, Garlic, Onions (or use a mini-prep food processor in the same order).
  5. Blend together Spice mix and Paste mix.
RUN   -   (55 min)
  1. In a large sauté pan, heat Oil and fry Spice Paste stirring for about 5 minutes.
  2. Stir in Chicken and fry stirring for another 4 minutes.
  3. Stir in Tomatoes and fry stirring until liquid has all evaporated and the pan sounds like it's frying again, (about 15 minutes).
  4. Stir in Coconut Milk. Bring to a simmer uncovered (coconut milk foams up worse than cow milk) then turn to a slow simmer and cook covered until Chicken is nearly tender (about 20 minutes).
  5. Stir in Vinegar, sprinkle with Garam Masala and adjust water if needed. Continue to simmer for another 8 minutes or so.
  6. Serve hot with plenty of Basmati or Jasmine rice.
NOTES:

  1. Chicken:

      Weight given is for skinless boneless chicken meat - I prefer thigh meat for flavor. Chicken is always stripped of skin and all removable fat for Indian recipes (except tandoor). The Parsees cut the chicken small but still on the bone. Legs cut crosswise would work well if you want bone in (use a sharp Chinese cleaver driven by a soft faced mallet).

  2. Cassia

      Cassia bark is what is called "Cinnamon" in North America. Real cinnamon could be substituted.

  3. Kashmir Chili:

      The quantity given will proved a fairly spicy curry. If you have doubts, use 2 T Kashmiri and 3 T Paprika. The pattern recipe calls for dried Kashmiri chilis. Real ones are difficult to get even in India, and even the ersatz ones are unavailable in North America - thus my use of Kashmiri Chili Powder, easily available in Indian markets in North America. This does change the appearance and texture (smoother). For details see our Indian Chilis page.

  4. Paprika

      Use real Hungarian Sweet Paprika, not that sawdust flavored stuff they sell in the supermarkets. Hungarian has much better flavor and a much more intense red color.

  5. Vinegar:

      Cane vinegar is suggested by the pattern recipe, but coconut vinegar is fine too. These are most easily available in markets serving a Philippine community (around here they're near just about every major medical center - our health care system runs on Filipino immigrants).

  6. Variations:

      The given recipe produces plenty of sauce, so it can easily support more chicken or chunks of potato. Add just a little more water too if you need to.

  7. Potatoes:

      Very much liked in India, Potatoes are a common addition to curries when they need to be expanded for extra guests or the main ingredient is in short supply. Use red or white rose potatoes, peeling them and cutting them into chunks. Don't use Yukon Gold type potatoes which turn to mush if cooked a little longer than the minimum. Hold potato chunks in cold water until needed (the last 20 minutes of cooking). For details see our Potatoes page.
  8. U.S. measure: t=teaspoon, T=Tablespoon, c=cup, qt=quart, oz=ounce, #=pound, cl=clove in=inch, ar=as required tt=to taste
imc_chkparse1 120305 gci124   -   www.clovegarden.com
©Andrew Grygus - agryg@aaxnet.com - Linking to and non-commercial use of this page is permitted.