Cafe Lula

My sister, Kim, graduated from university last month (with a 2:1 in History and Computer Science *proud*) and so we decided to have a graduation celebration this weekend. Our family typically likes to celebrate everything by making loads of food 😀 so Kim chose curry and cupcakes (which you can see here).

Kim’s favourite curry is a Jaipur we get sometimes from the takeaway just up the road from Mum’s house. We have searched and searched for a recipe but can’t find one anywhere. So, using a Balti recipe and the brief description of Jaipur from the takeaway menu (ha), we decided to have a go at recreating it ourselves.

For this curry, we roast the chicken first, made the sauce, and then cooked them together. I think we actually did a pretty good job. Next time I would increase the spices a bit, but otherwise it was very good.

The other curry we tried, where we stuck more to the recipe, was Murgh Makhani. This is also one of Kim’s favourites, although no-one else but me seems to like the one from the takeaway… everyone liked this one though 🙂

For this one, the chicken is marinated in spices and yoghurt first, then grilled. I was tempted to leave it at this stage because the marinade smells amazing. But I didn’t. Anyway, after struggling not to eat the grilled chicken, make the sauce and add the chicken pieces near the end. This was quite spicy and we only used mild chilli powder, so if you don’t like curries too spicy then reduce the chilli powder.

“Jaipur” for Kim

Adapted from The Curry Bible

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

For the meat:

1.8kg whole chicken

ghee or vegetable oil, for frying

2 shallots, chopped

2 garlic cloves

125g mushrooms

3 tbsp passata

For the sauce:

ghee or vegetable oil, for frying

3 shallots, chopped

1 garlic clove

1 1/2 tsp ginger paste

400g canned chopped tomatoes

1 tsp ground paprika

1/2 tsp ground turmeric

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp chilli powder

seeds from 3 cardamom pods

1 bay leaf

salt and pepper

Heat the oven to 160C and roast the chicken for 1.5 hours, until cooked through.

To make the sauce, heat the ghee or oil in a large wok over a medium-high heat. Fry the shallots,  crushed garlic and ginger for about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and stir, then add the paprika, turmeric, cumin, coriander, chilli powder, cardamom seeds, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil and then simmer gently for 20 minutes, stirring every so often.

Remove the bay leaf and pour the sauce into a food processor. Blend for a few seconds for a smoothish sauce.

For the meat, strip the meat from the roast chicken and reserve some of the stock. Wipe out the wok, heat some more ghee or oil and fry the shallots and crushed garlic and stir-fry for a few minutes. Add the mushrooms and fry a few minutes more, then add the chicken meat. Stir, then add the balti sauce. Heat through and add the passata if the sauce is a little thick. Serve with rice and naan bread.

Murgh Makhani

Adapted from Curry

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

For the marinade:

2 tsp ginger paste

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp salt

2 tsp chilli powder

juice of 1 lemon

600g chicken breasts, cut into chunks

100g Greek-style yoghurt

1/4 tsp garam masala

For the sauce:

1kg beef tomatoes, cut into 1/8ths

2 tbsp ginger

1 shallot

2 garlic cloves

4 cardamom pods

1 bay leaf

1/2 tbsp chilli powder

60g butter, cut into small pieces

3 slices jalapeno, chopped (I used the jarred ones from Discovery)

75ml single cream

1/4 tsp ground fenugreek

1/4 tsp garam masala

2 tsp sugar

Prepare the barbecue if you would like to barbecue the chicken. Otherwise you can grill it.

To make the marinade, mix together the ginger paste, crushed garlic, salt, chilli powder and lemon juice. Add the chicken to the bowl and coat the chicken in the marinade (it is best, though gross, to use your hands here). Set aside to marinate for 20 minutes. Mix the yoghurt and garam masala and mix this into the marinated chicken, again with your hands. Allow to marinate for another 10 minutes.

If barbecuing, thread the chicken onto skewers and cook for 15 minutes, until cooked through. If grilling, put in a small roasting dish or other tray which will hold the juices and grill for around 12 minutes, turning after 6.

While the chicken is cooking, start the sauce. Put the tomatoes in a big pan with 125ml water, crush in the garlic cloves and add 1 tbsp ginger paste,  plus the cardamom pods, shallots, and bay leaf. Cook until the tomatoes are very soft. This took about 10 minutes over a medium-high heat.

Remove the pan from the heat and tip the contents into a food processor. Process until smooth.

Return the sauce to the pan and slowly bring to the boil. Stir in the chilli powder and cook the sauce until it begins to thicken. Slowly add the butter, stirring constantly.

Add the chicken and juices and then simmer for 5 minutes. Add the other tbsp of ginger paste, the jalapenos and the cream. Simmer for a few more minutes, then add the ground fenugreek, garam masala and sugar.

Serve with rice and naan.