Lunch · Dinner · Indian

Chicken jalfrezi

Name: Chicken jalfrezi
Total time: 60 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Indian
Ingredients: 600g Chicken breast fillets; 2 Brown onions; 2 Peppers; 2 Red chillies; 3 cloves Garlic, crushed; 20g Fresh ginger, grated; 2 tbsp Vegetable oil; 1 tsp Ground cumin; 1 tsp Ground coriander; 1 tsp Ground turmeric; ½ tsp Chilli flakes; 1 tsp Garam masala; 1 tin Chopped tomatoes; 1 tbsp Tomato purée; 30g Fresh coriander; 300g Basmati rice, cook on the day

A proper hot curry, with charred peppers and onion stirred in at the end so they keep their crunch.

Start to finish: 1 hr
Hands-on: 39 min
In the fridge: 3 days
Freezes: Yes

Properly hot

Ingredients

4 portions

600gChicken breast fillets
2Brown onions
2Peppers
2Red chillies
3 clovesGarlic, crushed
20gFresh ginger, grated
2 tbspVegetable oil
1 tspGround cumin
1 tspGround coriander
1 tspGround turmeric
½ tspChilli flakes
1 tspGaram masala
1 tinChopped tomatoes
1 tbspTomato purée
30gFresh coriander
300gBasmati rice, cook on the day

Plus salt, pepper and water.

Method

1
Finely chop one onion, and cut the other onion and the peppers into large chunks. Slice the chillies, crush the garlic and grate the ginger. Cut the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
2
Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan or wok over a high heat. Stir-fry the onion and pepper chunks for 4 to 5 minutes, until charred at the edges but still crunchy. Tip onto a plate.
3
Add the rest of the oil and fry the chopped onion over a medium heat for 8 minutes, until golden. Stir in the garlic, ginger, chillies, cumin, ground coriander, turmeric and chilli flakes for a minute.
4
Add the chicken and stir for 5 minutes, until sealed all over and coated in the spices.
5
Add the tomatoes, purée and 100ml water. Simmer for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce is thick and the chicken is cooked through with no pink in the middle.
16 min, mostly hands-off
6
Stir in the garam masala and the charred peppers and onion and cook for 2 minutes, just to heat them through. Season.
7
Serve, or leave to cool and portion into tubs, keeping the coriander for the day.

On the day

Reheat until piping hot all the way through. Cook the rice fresh on the night and scatter plenty of chopped coriander over the top.

Cook’s tip

Charring the peppers and onion first, fast and hot, then adding them back at the end is what makes it a jalfrezi. They should taste smoky and still have bite.