Chicken Bredie Curry - Cape Malay Curry

Signature Dish by iSa
Type: Malay, Indian, South African
Prep Time: 20 min
Cooking Time: 1 hour
Servings: 2-4 (depending on portion size)
Ingredients:

Picture by smh.com.au

• 4 Chicken thighs
• 3-4 peeled and chopped ripe tomatoes (depending on size)
• 1 green or brown onion
• 1 garlic clove (mid size)
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 1 finely chopped Cayene chili or 1 tsp Powder Cayenne pepper (this can be adjusted to heat taste)
• 1 tsp Cumin (Jeera) Seeds + 1 tsp Coriander (Dhania) seeds crushed in a mortar
• 1 tsp Turmeric powder
• 1 tsp Curry powder
• 2 heaped tbsp of Apricot Jam
• 2 tbsp BBQ sauce (optional)
• 1 cup chicken stock (or half a chicken stock cube)
• Fresh Coriander
• Chopped Mixed Vegetables (your choice! I usually use a combination of some of these: courgettes, red, green and yellow peppers, red onion, butternut...)
• 2 cups couscous
• 400 ml Water approx.
• 1 tbsp Butter
• Vegetable oil
• Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper to taste

Note 1: Please don't be overwhelmed by the amount of ingredients, once you've got all these basic Indian spices you can do plenty of different meals with them. 

Note 2: Fresh tomatoes and onion and can be replaced for this dish with 1 can of tomato & onion mix.

This recipe, as you can see, is a bit of a mix, I basically took in my very basic knowledge of Indian Curry with what I learnt during a leisurely South African Cooking class on Cape Malay Bredie and threw in a few flavor twisters in between. The choice of couscous came because this mix reminded me a bit of North african flavors and simply because my husband loves couscous, I hope you will enjoy it as much as we did!

How to make Chicken Bredie Curry: Heat a heavy bottom pan at low to medium heat. Drizzle with Vegetable oil (about 2 tbsp) and toss in the Cumin and Coriander seeds (stir and fry for 1 min), then the rest of the Curry spices (Chili, Turmeric, Curry) and stir for another min, then add the garlic, ginger and onion. Stir for about 2 min and then keep in medium heat, add the chicken pieces and fry a bit until slightly browned (add more oil if needed). Put in the chicken stock, apricot jam and BBQ sauce, stir and allow to cook for a few minutes , then put in the tomatoes with some water, salt and pepper to taste and allow to cook for at least 30 min (so that the chicken comes out juicy and tender). Finish off with some coriander leaves and serve on top of the couscous in a deep plate. Make sure to be generous with the Curry jus.

How to make Vegetable Couscous:  Place the two cups of dry couscous in a bowl with a bit of salt. Pour enough boiling water to just about cover the couscous and allow to sit for 5 min. In the meantime heat a sauté pan to medium heat and add a drizzle of Olive Oil and the Butter, toss in the chopped veggies and sautee according to their cooking time, 3-5 min approx (some vegetables may need to be pre-cooked), season with salt and pepper. Stir the couscous with a fork until the grains have aired and separated, then stir in the veggies and serve with the Chicken Bredie Curry or any Curry of your choice on top.

Love, iSa