A classic Indian takeaway dish, chicken jalfrezi brings tender chicken together with crisp stir-fried vegetables in a thick and punchy sauce. Jalfrezi is a relatively recent innovation in Indian cooking. The dish is cooked more similarly to a stir fry than an Indian curry. This cooking method means that the dish can be whipped up quickly making it well suited for mid-week dinners. This dish also keeps well as leftovers for 3-4 days.
Chicken Jalfrezi
A classic Indian takeaway dish, chicken jalfrezi brings tender chicken together with crisp stir-fried vegetables in a thick and punchy sauce.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 2 medium chicken breasts approximately 400-500g, diced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 2 teaspoons garam marsala
- 1 medium brown onion diced
- ½ red capsicum diced
- ½ green capsicum diced
- 2 long red chillies finely sliced
For the sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 medium brown onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 green chilli finely chopped
- 400 g tin crushed tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon nigella seeds
- 3 whole star anise
- 1 tablespoon ground turmeric
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- To begin, season the chicken with the cumin, coriander and turmeric.
- Heat the oil over medium-high in a large frying pan.
- Add the chicken and cook stirring occasionally for 5 minutes or until nicely browned. Remove chicken and reduce heat to medium.
- To begin making the sauce, heat remaining oil in the pan. Once hot add the onions and sauté for 8 minutes to soften. Stir in the garlic, chilli and spices then sauté a further 2 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes and scrape the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened slightly. Pour into a blender and pulse until smooth.
- Return the sauce to the pan over medium-high heat. Add remaining onion along with capsicum and chilli then cook stirring for 5 minutes or until softened. Return the chicken to the pan and stir in sugar and garam masala. Simmer for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.