Butchered Whole Chicken Curry

This does require jointing/butchering/breaking-down a whole chicken the night before, but a whole chicken is generally the same price as two chicken breast fillets and the bones and extra meat in this curry give so much extra flavour.

Ingredients

  • 1 whole chicken, jointed into leg, thigh, wing tip, wings, and breasts cut in two
  • 1 tbsp garlic puree
  • 1 tbsp ginger puree
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp yoghurt
  • 1 tsp mild chilli powder
  • 1 large whole onion
  • 2 tsp coriander powder
  • 1 tsp cumin powder
  • 4 tbsp sunflower oil
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 curry leaves
  • 4 green cardamon pods
  • 4 cloves
  • 1 stick of cinnamon, snapped in half
  • 1 red chilli, thinly sliced (including seeds)
  • 2 tbsp tomato puree
  • 120ml (about 160g) plain yoghut
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1/8 tsp fenugreek powder (kasuri meth), optional
  • 15g fresh coriander, finely chopped

Method

  1. Joint the chicken (follow the link to the video in the ingredients list or find another one online if you don't know how to joint/break-down a chicken).
  2. Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl and add the garlic and ginger puree, as well as the turmeric, lemon juice, 3 tbsp yoghurt and mild chilli powder.
  3. Mix the chicken and spices until well combined.
  4. Cover and place in the fridge overnight.
  5. Meanwhile, blend the onion with the coriander powder, cumin and 2 tbsp sunflower oil until smooth.
  6. Place in a container with the whole bay leaves, curry leaves, cardamon pods, cloves and cinnamon stick pieces and refridgerate overnight.
  7. When ready to cook the next day, heat a tbsp of sunflower oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat.
  8. When the oil is shimmering, place pieces of the marinaded chicken, skin down, in the pan until full (you'll probably need to cook in two batches unless you have a huge pan).
  9. Sear the skin until it starts to brown, probably about 10 minutes.
  10. Remove the browned chicken from the pan and place on a plate.
  11. Repeat until all the chicken is well browned on the outside.
  12. In a large deep pan, heat the remaining tbsp of sunflower oil over a medium high heat.
  13. Add the onion and spice puree from the day before to the pan and stir frequently until it starts to brown.
  14. Put the thinly sliced red chilli into the pan and stir fry for a couple of minutes until the colour starts to darken.
  15. Add 450ml cold water, the tomato puree, braised chicken and remaining 160g plain yoghurt and mix until combined.
  16. Reduce the heat to low-medium and simmer for 25-30 minutes until the chicken is tender and starting to fall off the bone.
  17. Take off the heat, stir through the garam masala (and fenugreek if using) and garnish with the freshly chopped coriander leaves.
  18. Serve with rice, dhal and maybe some pakora.
Serves 8.

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