Morning Glory

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Buttermilk gives a lovely light tang to this mild aromatic curry. If you want to make a spicier dish simply add some hot chilli powder, to taste. I used Kashmiri chilli powder which is very mild. The toasted spice mix makes twice as much as is required but will keep well in a screw top jar for another time.

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Ingredients
340g boneless skinless chicken chopped into large chunks
200ml buttermilk
1 tbsp of grated fresh turmeric root (or 1 tsp ground turmeric)
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger root
1 tbsp desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
1 tsp each of coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and yellow mustard seeds
A few shards of cinnamon
A blade of mace
1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 medium sized mild green chilli, deseeded and sliced (set some aside to scatter over the finished dish)

Method
  1. Place 100ml of the buttermilk in a bowl. Add the turmeric and ginger and mix well.
  2. Add the chicken pieces and turn them to coat thoroughly. Cover and place in the fridge to marinate for several hours or overnight.
  3. Place the coconut in a dry frying pan and heat gently, stirring occasionally until the coconut becomes golden in colour. Place in a small bowl and set aside.
  4. Add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and yellow mustard seeds, cinnamon and mace to the frying pan and heat until a nutty aroma is released (be careful not to burn).
  5. Place the toasted coconut and toasted spices in a spice grinder and pulse until you have a fine powder. You should have approx. 4 tbsp of spice mix.
  6. Place the chicken with its marinade into a pan. Add the remaining 100ml of buttermilk, 2 tbsp of the spice mix, the Kashmiri chilli and tomato puree. Stir to combine.
  7. Cook uncovered on a gentle heat for 20 minutes then add the green chilli. Cook for a further 10 minutes by which time the sauce should have reduced and thickened. Add salt to taste.
  8. Serve with rice or flatbreads. Scatter the remaining green chilli over the top. If you like you can also sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves
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Note ....its an unusual curry in the sense that it doesn't contain any onion or garlic
A lot of strict Hindus won´t eat onion or garlic, so I imagine it comes from there. I was giving a cooking class a couple of years back and the Chargé d´Affaires from the Indian Embassy turned up with his wife. Asafoetida only - no onions or garlic! Triple amount of chile powder, mind!
That looks like a delicious recipe! -thanks!
 
Isn't that illegal. :laugh: Recipe looks delicious.

TBH I was improvising as I cooked and realised later there were no onions/garlic. I'm sure it would work if they were added. However, there are communities in India where they don't eat onion or garlic - also during certain religious days and fasts, some Indian communities do not use onion and garlic.
 
A lot of strict Hindus won´t eat onion or garlic, so I imagine it comes from there. I was giving a cooking class a couple of years back and the Chargé d´Affaires from the Indian Embassy turned up with his wife. Asafoetida only - no onions or garlic! Triple amount of chile powder, mind!
That looks like a delicious recipe! -thanks!

Yep - as I said above but this recipe didn't come from that source. It came from my my brain. Totally improvised. In fact I'm not sure Indian communities would use what we call 'buttermilk' in curry although you can find recipes which use that term - if you look carefully it seems that they sometimes use that term for what we call yoghurt. Similarly, Indian recipes often use the word 'curd' for yoghurt.
 
TBH I was improvising as I cooked and realised later there were no onions/garlic. I'm sure it would work if they were added. However, there are communities in India where they don't eat onion or garlic - also during certain religious days and fasts, some Indian communities do not use onion and garlic.
I'm sure/positive it would have worked. There are also people/chefs that use ketchup in Thailand for Pad Thai....first hand experience. I don't think I could ever make a curry or curry gravy without onions....lol, no for sure I just couldn't do that and it would be wrong of me obviously but i can live with that. :)
 
I don't think I could ever make a curry or curry gravy without onions....lol, no for sure I just couldn't do that and it would be wrong of me obviously

I'd probably have agreed with you a while ago. Onions slightly caramelised, then garlic and ginger paste (or grated) and cooked a few mins form the base of most curries I've ever made. To this add roasted spices and you can't go wrong. But honestly I didn't miss the onion and garlic in this dish. I did wonder if a 'tarka' of onion and garlic added as a garnish might be a nice addition, though.
 
I'd probably have agreed with you a while ago. Onions slightly caramelised, then garlic and ginger paste (or grated) and cooked a few mins form the base of most curries I've ever made. To this add roasted spices and you can't go wrong. But honestly I didn't miss the onion and garlic in this dish. I did wonder if a 'tarka' of onion and garlic added as a garnish might be a nice addition, though.
I can be bribed with a few onion bhaji though. :dance:
 
Buttermilk gives a lovely light tang to this mild aromatic curry. If you want to make a spicier dish simply add some hot chilli powder, to taste. I used Kashmiri chilli powder which is very mild. The toasted spice mix makes twice as much as is required but will keep well in a screw top jar for another time.

View attachment 73045
Ingredients
340g boneless skinless chicken chopped into large chunks
200ml buttermilk
1 tbsp of grated fresh turmeric root (or 1 tsp ground turmeric)
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger root
1 tbsp desiccated coconut (unsweetened)
1 tsp each of coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and yellow mustard seeds
A few shards of cinnamon
A blade of mace
1 tbsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tbsp tomato puree
1 medium sized mild green chilli, deseeded and sliced (set some aside to scatter over the finished dish)

Method
  1. Place 100ml of the buttermilk in a bowl. Add the turmeric and ginger and mix well.
  2. Add the chicken pieces and turn them to coat thoroughly. Cover and place in the fridge to marinate for several hours or overnight.
  3. Place the coconut in a dry frying pan and heat gently, stirring occasionally until the coconut becomes golden in colour. Place in a small bowl and set aside.
  4. Add the coriander seeds, cumin seeds, fennel seeds and yellow mustard seeds, cinnamon and mace to the frying pan and heat until a nutty aroma is released (be careful not to burn).
  5. Place the toasted coconut and toasted spices in a spice grinder and pulse until you have a fine powder. You should have approx. 4 tbsp of spice mix.
  6. Place the chicken with its marinade into a pan. Add the remaining 100ml of buttermilk, 2 tbsp of the spice mix, the Kashmiri chilli and tomato puree. Stir to combine.
  7. Cook uncovered on a gentle heat for 20 minutes then add the green chilli. Cook for a further 10 minutes by which time the sauce should have reduced and thickened. Add salt to taste.
  8. Serve with rice or flatbreads. Scatter the remaining green chilli over the top. If you like you can also sprinkle with fresh coriander leaves
View attachment 73046
Can a single blade of mace be substituted with a teeny-weeny pinch of nutmeg? I'm surprised that your recipe includes coconut 👁️. The pics make me drool. I could eat curries seven days a week - at least for a fortnight :pepper:.
 
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Can a single blade of mace be substituted with a teeny-weeny pinch of nutmeg?. I'm surprised that your recipe includes coconut 👁️. The pics make me drool. I could eat curries seven days a week - at least for a fortnight :pepper:.

I'm sure you could sub nutmeg (a few generous gratings) for mace. Regarding the coconut, I do have an intolerance to coconut milk (is that why you were surprised?) but I'm absolutely fine with grated coconut flesh.

If I could get away with it I'd probably eat curries 7 days a week too - but I can't afford the cals. In fact this is quite a low calorie curry because it uses no oil and chicken breasts are low cals.
 
A few years back, a chef friend who lived in eastern Venezuela sent me 3 kgs of nutmeg fruit. I was fascinated. The fruit is a bit like a peach, but tangier, so I made chutney with it. The nutmeg pit, or kernel, or stone is covered with an orange-coloured "mesh" - that´s the mace when it´s dried. The pit itself is the nutmeg.
The difference in flavour between mace and nutmeg? Mace is milder, that´s about it.
 
The difference in flavour between mace and nutmeg? Mace is milder, that´s about it.

Not sure... I will have to experiment/research. I often use that mace 'casing' in curry at the roasted spices stage. Nutmeg has a fresher slightly fruity, yet musky flavour and I would grate that in at the end of cooking.
 
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