Bhoona Chicken
Find this and other delicious recipes in the New Curry Bible
Bhoona is the Hindi and urdu term for the process of cooking a wet ground masala or ground spice paste in hot oil. It is the most important part of curry cooking, since it is this process that removes the raw taste of the spices and releases the essential oils, creating that wonderful well-rounded taste that we expect of our curry, in which no one spice jars the taste-buds or predominates.
SERVES
- 4 as a main course
INGREDIENTS
- 675 g (11/2 lb) chicken breast, skinned and cubed into large bite-sized pieces
- 2 tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
- 8 tablespoons Curry Masala Gravy
- 2 tablespoons coriander leaves, freshly chopped
- 2 tablespoons natural yoghurt
- salt to taste
MASALA ONE
- 4 bay leaves
- 6 cassia bark, small pieces
- 6 cloves
MASALA TWO
- 1 tablespoon Garam Masala
- 2 teaspoons chilli powder
METHOD
- Heat the ghee or oil and stir-fry the MASALA ONE ingredients for a few seconds. Add the turmeric and continue stirring for a few more seconds.
- Add the chicken pieces, and stir-fry for 3 or 4 minutes to seal it minutes.
- Add two tablespoons curry masala gravy, stir it in for about a minute, until it is absorbed, then add more. Repeat this process until the gravy is all in.
- The chicken should be fairly dry and nearly cooked after about 15 minutes.
- Add MASALA TWO to the pan with the fresh coriander and the yoghurt.
- Stir-fry a further 2 to 3 minutes.
- Check that the chicken is cooked right through by cutting a piece in half. It must be white right through.
- Salt to taste and serve.
Find this and other delicious recipes in the New Curry Bible
