Today is Peter's birthday (that's why I've been busy these the past few days). We're having a birthday lunch tomorrow (we had to wait for some friends to return from a trip to Barcelona) and I had to plan and shop for it. The menu won't include his favourite dish because it's too hot for most tastes, but the least I can do is share the recipe, courtesy of Jamie Oliver:
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| CHICKEN MADRAS |
Ingredients
* 4 chicken breasts
* 2 large onions
* 4 cloves of garlic
* 1 jar of tomato puree
* 3 teaspoons of garam masala
* 2 teaspoons of ground cayenne pepper
* 1 teaspoon of ground cumin
* 1 teaspoon of ground turmeric
* 8 cardamom pods
* 1/2 teaspoon of ground ginger
* 1/2 teaspoon of ground coriander
* juice of 1/2 a lemon
Directions
1. Find a large saucepan or frying pan which has a lid. Place on a medium heat and add a liberal amount of cooking oil and then when at temperature add the two onions finely chopped, cook the onions for a couple of minutes until they start to brown slightly.
2. Now add the garlic (finely chopped), ground Cayenne pepper and Garam masala and stir for 2 to 3 minutes.
3. Now add the ground cumin, ground turmeric, ground ginger and ground coriander and stir in for about 30 seconds.
4. Add the diced chicken and stir until the chicken is cooked through.
5. Now add the tomato puree which you will have diluted down 1:1 with water and the seeds from the 8 cardommon pods, stir and then lower the heat and place a lid on the saucepan. Simmer for 30 minutes stirring occasionaly (if the sauce starts to stick to the pan add some water)
6. After 30 minutes remove the lid and squeeze the juice of half a lemon into the pan along with a pinch of salt, stir and let simmer uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes.
7. Serve
Hot curries are best accompanied by a nicely chilled Indian beer:
But as we're in France and won't be having curry, Peter's favourite wine will be served:
Finally, here's one of his favourite songs:
Happy birthday, pet. I love you heaps.