Goan Red Chicken Curry

“I love the Goan red spice paste. It is spicy, chilli-like and vinegary and adds a real punch to anything it is added to. I have made my paste suitable for Western palates, but by no means is it mild or apologetic. I think the dish shows the flavors of the paste beautifully. The onion adds sweetness and the tomatoes balances out the flavors of the paste. If you like spicy dishes – and by this I don’t mean red hot – this is a great dish to try.” – Anjum

Ingredients:

4 tbps vegetable oil/Olive oil

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

4 tbsp Goan red spice paste (Recipe follows)

4 large tomatoes, chopped

salt, to taste

1.5 lb chicken pieces, skinned( I have used 500 gm chicken,without skin)

For Goan Red Spice Paste:

This is a spicy, vinegary paste from the beautiful region of Goa. As all the ingredients are i raw so it does need to be well cooked.

Makes about half a cup

• 2 largish, mild fresh red chilies, deseeded
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• 1 1/2 tsp coriander seeds
• 3 cloves
• 6 peppercorns
• 3/4 tsp ground turmeric
• 9 large of garlic, peeled
• 1/2 in slice fresh ginger, peeled
• 1 1/2 in piece of cinnamon
• 1 tsp tamarind paste
• 3/4 tsp sugar
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup white wine vinegar 

Blend all the ingredients together to make a fine paste.

Note:I have used white vinegar here, and skipped the  tamarind.

Preparation:

• Heat the oil in a large nonstick saucepan. 
• Add the onion and cook until browned, around 10 minutes. 
• Add the spice paste and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes and the salt, cover, and cook for 10 minutes or until the tomatoes have softened and reduced.
•  Uncover the pan and toss the tomatoes in their own juices for another 6-8 minutes or until they have become good shade darker.
• Add the chicken(I have marinated the chicken with ginger-garlic paste and salt for 30 minutes) 
•  Stir well in the pan for a few minutes. 
• Add 1 cup of water, bring to the boil and cover. 
• Cover over low heat for 20 minutes if the pieces are small and 25 minutes if large.
• Uncover , turn the heat up and boil off excess moisture in the pan, tossing the chicken in the reducing gravy all the time. 
• Doing this for 3-4 minutes will finish off the chicken, deepen the flavour and darken the color. The gravy should be dark red and quite thick. 
• Serve with Rice or Indian bread.

Recipe courtesy:  Anjum Anand - writer of Anjum’s New Indian