Chicken Khawse

This is one of those recipes where Ive only had the dish twice at the most but it's one that I love as it's a curry that's got depth with spices without being too hot as well as being light and refreshing with the addition of coconut milk and yogurt. 

I failed in my efforts searching Pinterest and Google to find the actual recipe since i couldn't remember what it was called, and thanks good old Facebook a friend knew what i was looking for an came to my rescue. 

This is a perfect dish for this time of year, when it's dark gloomy and freezing cold - a proper winter warmer of a dish.

To serve 4- 6 people you will need:
2 medium onions
3 chicken breasts (thinly sliced) 
2 x 500g tub natural yogurt
200ml tin coconut milk 
250ml chicken stock
2tbsp gram flour 
2-3 tsp ginger paste
2-3 tsp garlic paste
2 green birds eye chillies 
2 red bullet chillies (de seeded )
1 1/2 tsp salt 
1 tsp garam masala 
1 bay leaf
1-2 kaffir lime leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds*
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 teaspoons curry powder 
2-3 spring onions finely chopped 
fresh coriander chopped 
crisped fried onions
fresh finely sliced ginger 
200g egg noodles 
juice of a whole lime 
1-2 limes cut into quarters

• Start by heating a little oil in a heavy based based pan, add in the onions finely sliced, and cook till the onions soften and just start to colour. Add in the garlic ginger salt and the 2 green birdseye chillies. Continue to cook on a medium heat until the chillies have slightly softened and the onions have gotten slightly golden brown.
• Add in the chicken and continue to cook till the chicken just starts to colour, add in the curry powder, garam masala, bay and kaffir lime leaves and cumin seeds. Cook through until the chicken is almost completely cooked, then remove from the pan and set aside.
• In a bowl mix the gram flour with 2 tablespoons of the yogurt to make a smooth paste, then add in the remaining yogurt, then the chicken stock and coconut milk. Stir it altogether till its all combined and there are no lumps
• On a high heat, add the milk to the pan, continuously stirring till it reaches boiling point.* Reduce the heat, add the chicken to the pan along with the soy sauce. Leave to simmer on a low heat for about 10 minutes
• Add in the noodles and stir through. At this point i like to taste test to see if it needs more of either yogurt or coconut milk or wether it needs to simmer for longer. If it gets too thick for your liking, all you need to do is add a little fresh boiled water till its at the consistency you like.
• Add the coriander and red bullet chilli just before serving, and as an extra serve the crisped fried onions, fresh ginger slices**, spring onions and lime wedges separatley and your guests can help themselves.

*stirring the milk until boiling point prevents the yogurt from splitting and ending up from looking like curds/ cottage cheese. I tend to stir in circular clockwise motions at a slow speed so i can see the bubbles form as it comes to boil

** for the ginger i use a vegetable peeler to get really thin slithers and that way it's perfect to bite straight into and gives a really nice kick

Because the cousin's wife asked

This is a recipe that's purely ended up on here due to a family member asking how to cook Chicken and potato curry and I thought it may as well be drafted up and shared with you all ... So here's my recipe for chicken and potato curry 

To serve 3-5 people you will need :

1 kg chicken thigh cut in pieces or 1 whole chicken in pieces
3 medium onions
1 frozen cube ginger 2 frozen cubes garlic 1tsp salt 3 green chillies 2 tsp curry powder 1 bay leaf 1 tin tomato 2 tbsp fenugreek leaves (methi) 2 small tins of baby potatoes / 3 medium fresh potatoes cut into quarters chopped fresh coriander to garnish 2 tsp garam masala

• Start by chopping your onions and in a heavy based pan fry in a little oil on a medium heat till softened.Add the ginger garlic and salt. Cook the onions till they are golden brown in colour.
• Add the chillies and cook till the chillies soften and slightly darken in colour. Add the tinned tomatoes, curry powder and a splash of water. Stir through then with an electric blender or masher, blend the mixture so you get a smooth masala paste.
• Add in the chicken and the bay leaf and the cleaned fenugreek leaves. Cook the chicken till lightly browned, and juices run clear and there's minimal water, you'll know its ready when masala starts to stick to the chicken and the oil will separate• 
• Finally the tinned potatoes and stir through so the potatoes absorb the masala. Add water to the chicken .. just enough to cover the chicken and simmer on a medium heat for about 10 minutes (or until it's as thick as you prefer, sometimes i leave it quite dry so it ends up a quite spicy bhuna) till the water has reduced and add the coriander garam masala just before serving.

*if using fresh potato add at this point, you will need to stand close by and stir continuously till the potatoes cook through- add a little water at a time to stop the masala from catching