Sunday, February 03, 2008

What is Indian curry leaf doing in Chinese Chilli Chicken?




Curry leaf and Chinese- I know the words by themselves look odd when put next to each other in a sentence. But seriously, how long can you stick to a recipe without adding something of your own to the dish? My mother's version of chilli chicken has plenty of curry leaves swimming in the gravy, and yes, these aromatic leaves make the curry all the more exciting.




Ingredients
12 small pieces of chicken
One large onion, chopped
Green chillis, 5 or6 , slit lengthwise
5 or 6 plumb cloves of garlic , sliced
an inch piece of ginger, minced
curry leaf, 2 sprigs
chopped spring onions, 1 T
freshly crushed black pepper, 1 tsp
soy sauce , 2 or 3 t
corn flour mixed in a little cold water, 2 tsp




Let's get to the stove now.
Place the chicken pieces in a pot, and add enough water to cover. Add two tablespoons of soy sauce , cover and cook until the chicken is just done. Take out the chicken pieces from the liquid , and reserve the liquid. Heat oil in a kadai or wok, add the chicken pieces (be careful, the water in the chicken and hot oil together will give you some drama here) and let them brown nicely. Remove the chicken from the wok, and add the garlic and ginger. Once the garlic turns soft, add the green chillies , onions and curry leaves,and cook on high heat. Once the onions and chillies start to wilt , add the spring onions and pepper powder. Bring the browned chicken pieces back to the wok, stir fry for a minute or two and then pour the liquid. Once it starts to boil, reduce heat to medium pour the cornflour mix and let it cook until the gravy is thickened. This not-so-chinese curry goes well with fried rice and plain rice and even roti.

8 comments:

Sig said...

I think it is my first time here... And yeah, I too add curry leaves to a lot of dishes, regardless of the cuisine... :)Your chilli chicken looks drool worthy!

Shah cooks said...

nice to see u blogging. for a long time i was wondering why u stopped and did only the mal. blog. By the way, the penang restaurant here has a item on the menu called indian chili chicken and it has curry leaves in it!!

vimmi said...

Who cares as long as it tastes agood and looks so yummy. LOve chili chiken and love curry leaves

Pooja V said...

Reshma this is so nice and innovative..a must try...bookmarked !

Padmaja said...

Reshma!! there is nothing wrong in changing the recipe, the picture says it all!yummy chicken

Mrs. K said...

So happy to see you cooking again..(I mean blogging. :))
Curry leaves... yes!!

Srivalli said...

first time first time here...and love your pictures..they look very inviting and attractive!..its nice to see curry leaves added...for me too it comes quite natural to add curry leaves to all types!

reshma said...

Thank you all for your kind words.