Hairy Bikers Chicken Curry Recipe

Hairy Bikers chicken curry is a Punjabi recipe from Harjinder, a mum featured in the book, with chicken in a cumin, garlic and ginger tarka. And in Mums Know Best it serves 6 in just over an hour, at around 290 calories each by my sums.

Her tarka masala sauce is described as “the base for many Punjabi dishes”, and the dish as “a great chicken curry recipe”. But unlike a takeaway curry, there’s no cream, coconut or stock, because the flavour comes from the fried base and the spiced chicken.

Cooking the tarka until the oil begins to separate matters most, since that’s the one cue the recipe gives that the base is ready. So I wouldn’t rush on to the chicken, because as I see it that fried base carries the flavour of the whole curry.

Hairy Bikers Chicken Curry Recipe

Author: Alex Saidani Cooking Method:Simmering Cuisine:British Indian Courses:Dinner

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 20 minutesCook time: 45 minutesRest time: minutesTotal time:1 hour 5 minutesServings:6 servingsCalories:290 kcal Best Season:Summer

Description

Cumin seeds sizzle in hot oil before onions, a full head of garlic, ginger and whole green chillies fry down into a punchy Punjabi base. Then the spiced chicken browns in the sauce and gets an easy 15-minute simmer, finished with fresh coriander.

Ingredients

For the tarka masala sauce

• 3 tbsp sunflower oil, ghee or olive oil
• 2 tsp cumin seeds
• 2 medium onions, peeled and chopped
• 1 head of garlic, cloves peeled and chopped
• 1 small tin of chopped tomatoes (about 227g, my estimate)
• 5cm piece of root ginger, peeled and chopped
• 2 whole green chillies

For the chicken

• 1kg boneless chicken breasts, cut into big chunks (about 4cm, my guide)
• 1½ tsp salt
• 1½ tsp ground black peppercorns and coriander seeds, mixed
• ¾ tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1½ tsp turmeric
• ½ tsp red chilli flakes
• about 450ml water

To finish

• 2 fresh tomatoes, sliced
• a handful of fresh coriander, chopped
• 3 bay leaves

Instructions

1. Fry the cumin and onions: Heat the oil in a large pan until fairly hot, then add the cumin seeds and fry them for 10 seconds. Then add the onions and fry over a medium heat until golden brown, about 10 minutes by my timing.
2. Add the garlic: Stir in the garlic and fry until it’s just slightly golden. Meanwhile, drain the tinned tomatoes and keep the juice for later.
3. Cook out the tarka: Add the drained tomatoes, ginger and whole green chillies to the pan. Then keep cooking until the oil begins to separate from the sauce, which takes about 5 minutes by my timing.
4. Seal the chicken: Add the chicken, unwashed, with the salt, ground spices and chilli flakes, and cook over a fairly high heat. Keep turning it until it’s sealed and browned and the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes.
5. Simmer: Pour in the reserved tomato juice and about 450ml of water, then bring to the boil. Simmer uncovered over a medium heat for about 15 minutes, until the chicken is tender with no pink inside. And add the fresh tomatoes for the last 3 minutes.
6. Finish and serve: Sprinkle in the fresh coriander and add the bay leaves at the end, which is when the book adds them. Then serve with chapatis, boiled rice or puris, though I’d lift the bay leaves out first since they aren’t for eating.

FAQs

Do I need to wash the chicken first?

No, even though the original book recipe washes the chicken first, because the Food Standards Agency advises against washing raw chicken. And splashing tap water around can spread bacteria across your sink and worktops, while cooking kills them anyway.

So I’ve left that out, which is the only change to the method. Then just check the biggest chunk is steaming hot, with no pink in the middle and clear juices, before you serve it.

How do I make chicken curry for a crowd?

For a big party, their Great Curries book has a chicken curry for a crowd, serving 14 to 16 with 24 boneless thighs. And they call it “a real crowd pleaser”, with 250g of curry paste, 4 tins of tomatoes and mango chutney in the sauce.

They chose thighs because they’re “more forgiving than chicken breasts and can be reheated without becoming tough”. So it keeps up to two days chilled or two months frozen, defrosted thoroughly first, and their spiced pilau rice would suit it.

Is it a healthy chicken curry?

It’s a lighter, healthy-ish curry at around 290 calories a portion by my sums, though it isn’t from one of their diet books. And their Caribbean chicken curry comes in at a similar 300 calories by my sums, though two scotch bonnets make it much hotter.

For a Hairy Dieters curry with an official count, their chicken bhuna from Eat for Life comes in at 305 calories. As for heat, the whole chillies and chilli flakes make it a medium curry to me, so halve the flakes for a milder one.

Can I make it ahead or freeze it?

Yes, though this is my approach since the book doesn’t cover it: cool it within 2 hours and chill it for up to 2 days. Then reheat it once until piping hot. And if you freeze it, defrost it thoroughly in the fridge first, as they advise for their crowd curry.

But breast meat can toughen on reheating, which is why they use thighs for the make-ahead crowd version. As for a slow cooker, there’s no method for one, and with a 15-minute simmer this curry doesn’t need one.

What is Harjinder’s garam masala?

The recipe sends you to her own blend, made by grinding equal amounts of cinnamon sticks, black cardamom pods and cloves. So it’s a warm, slightly smoky mix with no cumin or coriander in it.

That works here because the cumin seeds go into the tarka, while ground coriander seed goes on with the chicken. But a shop-bought garam masala is fine too, since you only need three-quarters of a teaspoon.