July 2016 Greybeard's Kashmir Chicken

[Greybeard]

(This recipe can be found in the recipe section here - Admin)

For me, this curry replicates that classic BIR aroma and experience every time (including that nice oil seperation). It is easy and quick to prepare. Using the measurements below will make enough for two. It has a beautiful colour and a gentle heat, but if you want to raise the stakes more chilli (MDH deggi mirch) may be added. This is a variation on CBM's chicken Kashmiri chilli method, and turns out much redder than the Youtube version.

The ring I used on my gas cooker was the largest (Non-wok) ring. A large 28cm aluminium pan was used, you can use others but be careful if using a dark coloured pan as it will be difficult to see if the chilli's are getting over cooked. If you are using a smaller pan you may want to reduce the amount of chicken / veg so not to crowd the pan. Use any base gravy and mix powder, but I stick to combinations from the same chef as they are generally designed to work together.

[charliebir]

Sounds good, GB.

Do you have the self discipline to resist eating it and take take a couple of pictures first, please? Not easy

[Westy]

Thanks for posting this GB

May I ask please about the Garam masala - it's not top of my list of favourite spice mixes and there's a tsp in this - does the final dish have a distinct Garam masala flavour or is it merely an unnoticeable element of the whole ?.

[Greybeard]

Guilty as charged m'lud , will post some photos next time I rustle some up.

The garam masala definitely adds something subtle to the dish, it is not too overpowering though. As it is added during the main fry, my guess is that it takes a lot of the pungency out. If it was added close to the end like a lot of classic Indian cooking, I think the dish would be quite different.

[Greybeard]

Ingredients

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Peppers

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Chilli's cooking

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The final dish

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Served

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I overdid it with the ghee in the ingredients photo, I wanted to use the remainder in the jar. I had to skim the curry in the end as there was too much. An interesting aside, I cooked this much the same way as I did the other night before adding the recipe online, but my wife said it was hotter. To me it was the same !! Could be the excess oil extracted more of the heat from the chilli perhaps? The curry was quite red though. And of course that classic BIR aroma, which I am now 100% convinced is down to the methi. As soon as it hit the pan, I was a happy man .....

(Please excuse the terrible lighting, the table cover is actually silver. I tweaked the last image as best I could. Just goes to show what a cheap tablet and fluorescent can achieve.)

[seafret]

That does look very good indeed gb Thank you for posting the photos.

[charliebir]

Thanks very much for these, GB.

Nicely presented and very appetising.

[pauly]

I was asked to choose this months curry & I decided on Greybeard's Kashmir Chicken I really like the flavour of Kashmiri Chillis as well as the lovely colour they give. It looks an interesting recipe, I hope members will give it a try.

[Cory Ander]

Good choice, pauly, it's great to see that a variety of other member's recipes are also being subject to a "Curry Club's" assessment!

[Greybeard]

Thanks Pauly, I will post some better photos on the thread as the originals are not brilliant.

[pauly]

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I wasn't sure if the recipe was for one portion, I couldn't eat two chicken breasts with 1/2 a red & 1/2 a yellow pepper with 1/2 an onion, so I reduced the amounts to six pieces of pre cooked chicken, roughly 1/4 of each of the peppers & around 1/3 of a medium onion. I snipped the kashmiri chiilis in small pieces with scissors & then ground them into smaller pieces in a mortar & pestle.

My knife skills aren't good enough for 2mm slices & some were probably nearer 4mm but what harm. I fried off the peppers & onions gently & removed them from the pan, the smell of the frying kashmiri chillis was gorgeous.

My wife had a taste as it was cooking & there was a " Cooo, I like that " so promising.

The finished curry looked very attractive, a lovely aroma too. Flavour was delicious, if you like kashmiri chillis, you'll love this one. A nice taste from the peppers & a well balanced curry, nice one Greybeard .

[Greybeard]

That really does look the business, Pauly. As you say, it is the colour and the aroma that truly makes this curry what it is. The original recipe was for 2, but it is not critical the thickness of the veg.

Thanks for trying it out, I'm really pleased you both like it.

[Greybeard]

As promised, a slightly better photo

[Alchemist]

Thanks for posting GB, useful for those curry clubbers making it this month.

[ScotchBonnet]

Made this tonight and would have it again (as would sons). Not sure how big your breasts are but I used 600g chicken, 1 very large yellow pepper, 2 medium onions (maybe 120g) and 600ml gravy for 3 portions. The dried chillies were ones I got from a Chinese supermarket and were a nice, dark red when whizzed in an electric chopper. The chilli powder was bright red Kashmiri stuff by MDH. I used coriander that I had previously frozen and chopped and put in a generous amount which contrasted well with the slightly dry (no sugar) spice of the Kashmiri chilli. Thank you, Greybeard, for your recipe. I cut the pepper into strips about 8 x 40mm and the onions into 2mm slivers 'cos I like a bit of bite to the peppers.

[Alchemist]

Nice job SB, sounds like a success. I could make all kinds of jokes about the size of GB's breast...

[Greybeard]

Thanks SB for trying this out, glad everyone liked it. Do you think this would benefit from sugar? I quite often add this in one form or another to curries, but never felt the need in this dish.

As to the size of my breast, like the size of other parts of my anatomy it is quite large.

(I was thinking my middle finger before the mods get too excited)

[ScotchBonnet]

NO! - do not add sugar, please. This tasted a bit like a good madras of yesteryear (albeit red instead of yellow) and I meant dry as a compliment here much as a dry champagne is better than Bucky put through a Sodastream. The pepper and chilli powders combined to create a unified front of main taste but still allowed the chicken and onion to be appreciated for what they are. I'm thinking maybe a bit more seasoning (salt + black pepper or some all-purpose seasoning thrown in at the end) might lift this dish to even greater levels but rest assured that it passes the "Buffet Test" - I ask my sons if they had tried this at the local (very decent) Indian restaurant all-you-can eat buffet would they go back for some more and they both replied an emphatic "yes". I've even saved some gravy to go with mushrooms tomorrow to create a starter.

[Greybeard]

Bucky put through a Sodastream

For the non Scottish audience, Bucky is an abbreviation for Buckfast, a local alcoholic delicacy (while fermented in Devon) that has the viscosity of used engine oil, the sugar content of a Tate and Lyle sugar beet refinery and the kick of a mule maxed out on steroids.

As to seasoning, my take on all recipes is "adjust to your personal taste". This creates a particular bone of contention in our house, as Mrs GB tends to wave the salt cellar at the dish (So it can see what salt looks like), whereas I actually add some.

I'll make sure I keep the sugar well away from this dish then, SB

[TikkaTom]

Anyone else going to try this months curry? I will be sure to try it before the week is out, just gotta source some dried kashmiri chillies!