Truly Scrumptious

I have probably mentioned before but UK curries are a special category all of their own. They are a special recipe for UK tastes and probably nothing like you would find in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, or Bangladesh, but they are also delicious and chicken tikka masala is always topping the charts as the UK’s favourite dish. I haven’t found many places in Australia that serve curries anything like you find in the UK, some are close, but there hasn’t been a consistent favourite venue. I tend to try and make my own and have had quite a bit of success with some of them, but others have been a failure, even when I am following a recipe that proclaims to be just like a UK curry.

When I lived in the UK there was a restaurant at Roneo Corner in Hornchurch Road (opposite the Crown pub, a few doors down from Clarke’s carpets). It changed hands several times over the years, and has been called several things including Eastern Eye, Ghanda Raj, Balti House, and Cafe Balti. Many many years ago (I am talking early 1980’s) they had a medium curry on the menu called a Mashallah. I tried it and I was hooked – hard to describe it’s like a Ceylon, but not as hot as a Ceylon, it had a coconut background to it, a lovely thick sauce and some vegetables, I remember green beans featured. It became my favourite until one day when I noticed that it wasn’t on the menu. I asked the waiter and he checked with the chef and the chef said yes I know that curry and he made me one – absolutely delicious. Eventually the restaurant changed hands and the mashallah was no longer an option and I didn’t see it on any other menu.

In my online searches – Google always changed my search to chicken masala, giving me endless recipes for the red peril known as chicken tikka masala. Until recently…. I found a recipe online that looked promising so decided to give it a go. It’s pretty close to the mashallah that I loved and evoked some really good food memories. I did give it a few tweaks, but I think this is 96% there, so I am sharing the recipe just in case there are any other mashallah fans out there who thought it was lost forever. (In case you are wondering “Mashallah” is Arabic for “What God has willed”).

I would love to credit the person who published the original recipe, but I can’t find it any more despite extensive Googling – anyhow I have written it down.

Ingredients:
700g – 1kg of chicken – you can keep the bones in if you like or use filleted chicken – cut into chunks. I used a mixture of thigh and breast meat
2 medium onions, finely sliced
2 medium tomatoes, skinned and chopped
1 cup (250ml) of plain yoghurt – I used a non dairy coconut yoghurt
2 tbsp of ginger garlic paste (or just grate/mash a tablespoon each or fresh ginger and garlic – same result)
3 tbsp of neutral oil (vegetable oil, peanut oil)
3 tbsp desiccated coconut, toasted lightly in a dry frying pan
salt to taste (will need 1 – 2 teaspoons)
Whole spices:
3 green cardamom pods
3 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 tsp cumin seeds
Dry spice mix:
1 tsp of red chilli powder (Kashmiri if you have it)
Half tsp of turmeric powder
1 tbsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala powder
Garnish:
Green chillies
Coriander leaves

Method:
1. Heat the oil. Add the whole spices and let them sizzle for 10-20 seconds.
2. Add the sliced onions and saute them for a good ten minutes until they are golden brown. Don’t rush this bit – caramelised onions add a lot of flavour.
3. Add garlic and ginger paste, cook for 2 minutes.
4. Add the tomatoes and fry until they soften.
5. Add the dry spice mixture, and fry until the oil separates. You can add some water if the mixture is a bit claggy, let the water evaporate and look for the oil to separate. This all takes around 5 – 8 minutes of cooking the spices. Don’t let the spices burn, add water as needed.
6. Add the yoghurt and mix well.
7. Add the chicken and cook for 5-8 minutes.
8. Add a cup of water, bring to the boil, then simmer with the lid on for 15 minutes.
9. Add the coconut and a teaspoon of salt and simmer for a further 5 minutes.
10. Taste and adjust with salt, sugar and lemon juice if needed. Garnish with coriander and sliced chillies.

If you want to include veggies you can add some green beans and peas, I recommend blanching green beans first then adding them approx 5 minutes before the end of cooking.

Hope you love these flavours as much as me.