Chicken Jalfrezi

This is one of my favourite Indian dishes to make, mostly because it's fast and involves tomatoes that are almost completely impossible for my husband to pick oot.

You will need:

1 kg boneless skinless chicken thighs cut in half (I know how to de-bone and de-skin chicken thighs but that is half an hour of my life I will never get back)

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 onion

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tsp turmeric

2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp kosher salt

28 oz can of diced tomatoes, undrained

2 Tbsp ghee (clarified butter)

2 tsp cumin

2 tsp ground coriander


First, start the brown rice, cause that schtuff takes forEVER! Then we start!  Put the oil into the pan and grate the onion on top of it:

I know you are supposed to heat the oil before you put it in the pan, but I don't like to burn my wrists if I don't have to.

Cook in a large-ish not-non-stick pan at med-low heat for one minute and then add the garlic. Since grating the onion has increased the surface area greatly (heh), it takes much less time for it to soften. It also makes it entirely impossible for my husband to pick it out. I grate a lot of onions. You only want the garlic to become fragrant, so when you can smell it (a minute, maybe), throw in the chicken and season with the turmeric, chili powder and kosher salt.

Turrneric is the yellow one. It likes to stick around

This is not a terrific representation, because you want to have enough room for the chicken to brown somewhat. Keep flipping it and cooking the surface.

I like the flat edge so I can break up the chicken if it's getting unruly

When all is mixed in and you feel like it's not completely raw, about 5-7 minutes, add in the tomatoes with all their juice. Don't use one of those blends, they have all kinds of chemicals and other stuff in them and we don't want that. Anyway, reduce the heat and cover, let it cook for 20-25 minutes, until the tomatoes are almost completely broken down (and nearly impossible to pick oot).

Just added

Almost invisible. Mwah ha ha!!!

Take the lid off and continue to simmer for about 10 minutes or a little longer, until most of the extra liquid is gone and the sauce is thickened. Add in the ghee, cumin and ground coriander and simmer for another 10 minutes. That may seem like a lot of ghee, but it really brings the sauce together. I've experimented with lesser amounts and it just isn't the same. 

Serve over brown rice:

Imagine there is a sprig of parsley on top. Middle-ish. 

Enjoy!!

My friend and neighbor Justina made this yesterday and took a MUCH better picture! See: