Chicken, chicken liver, and okra curry
RECIPE
This is a very fragrant dry curry that is mainly cooked in the liquid from the chicken. It’s very generous in its use of oil, this where the magic happens. You can always spoon-off the excess after the dish is cooked. But to get the right aroma and flavour, oil is necessary. The boiled water is used so as to avoid dropping the temperature during cooking process, in this curry, we will only use tiny amounts at a time, just to avoid catching/burning at the bottom of the pan.
Ingredients;
1 baby chicken with skin on - cut it down to 8/10 pieces.
300gm chicken liver
10 okra - washed, dried and cut in half
250ml oil - suitable for high smoke point
2 medium onions - finely sliced
15 cloves of garlic - finely chopped
1 tblsp ginger or 2 frozen cubes
2 fresh tomatoes - quartered
5 green cardamoms
1 cassia bark stick
5 cloves
3 bay leaves
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tblsp chicken masala
1 tblsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1/2 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp Kashmiri bassar
Handful of fresh coriander
5/6 finger chillis - optional
500ml boiled water - in the kettle
1.5 tsp salt - adjust to taste
Method;
I’m a pot, heat up the oil but not to smoking point otherwise your whole spices will burn. Add the cumin seeds, cloves, cardamoms, cassia and bay leaves. Let it fry for 30 seconds, constantly stirring, once the aroma starts releasing, add onions, ginger, garlic and salt, give it a good stir, cover and cook on medium heat. If it starts to catch, add a splash of hot water and keep stirring until the onions have browned, take it as far as you can without burning, this where the flavour develops. Add the rest of the ground spices and keep stirring for a few mins, add a little water if necessary, now add the tomatoes and cover, once the tomatoes have softened, add the chicken, give it a good stir, cover and cook on medium heat for 5mins, check halway and give it a stir. Now add 300ml hot water and cover. Once the chicken and the oil have separated, add the chicken liver and okra and give it a good stir. Now turn the heat up, cover and cook for 5 mins, check midway. Check that all the ingredients are cooked, add the coriander and finger chillis (optional) cook for another minute and it’s ready.