Hector Cooks Chicken Karahi + Naan

Chicken Karahi? We live in strange times. For example, last night’s attempt at making Naan marked the hundredth post in – Hector’s Cooking, but not the hundredth Curry. I reckon that happened this evening, so I must present myself with a certificate to mark the occasion.

Lord Clive of Crawley arrived in Glasgow this afternoon, our busy schedule over the next few days may only permit one restaurant Curry. Tonight there had to be food, but with trains stopping early, it was a case of go home and rustle something up. Clive often orders a Chicken Curry. Hector, the perfect host, did not think his guest would be impressed by having to wait ninety minutes for a Lamb Curry. And so, it was a case of in which order to start the preparation of a Chicken Karahi, and what was going in?

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Frozen chopped Onions was the starting ingredient, then it was a case of assemble the large dried ingredients in one dish, the powdered in another. Hector was not holding back, a Minimal Masala and a big Spice Level was the objective. Whilst the contents of each dish were stirred in, the Chicken Thighs were cooked in the microwave, a safety net, no Salmonella please.

Onion Powder was used as a thickening agent, dried Methi went in with Garam Masala towards the end.

Amchoor Powder and Salt were the last to go in to this Post Pub Curry.

Throughout Lockdown I have watched numerous video clips of people preparing Karahi, using Chicken is so much more straightforward, but the outcome inevitably less satisfying. The positive is that a Karahi bears no resemblance to a Curry cooked with a base gravy.

Two dough-balls had been set aside for tonight, just in case. These were rolled out whilst the Tawa was heated. To improve upon yesterday’s attempt, the aim was to go larger and also hopefully thicker.

Tonight, more bubbles formed across the dough as it cooked on the Tawa. Melted butter was applied before turning. I wanted the burnt bits and monitored the cooking to ensure that this didn’t get out of hand. The result was pleasing in terms of appearance.

Chicken Karahi + Naan

Clive was well impressed that I had made my own Naan from scratch. The size was definitely better than anything I have produced so far. The Texture was again most certainly Bread-like, but as I had already doubted the efficacy of the Yeast, the Naan was not as light and fluffy as one would hope for, next time.

The Chicken Karahi had come out exactly as planned, a Dry, Thick, Masala. The Spice was there and the Seasoning was a la Hector. The Methi had provided the extra Flavour dimension, everything was fine except for the Meat. The Chicken did nothing other than make this a – Non-Veg Curry. Fish Karahi next time?

This is marvellous – was one of the correct noises made by Clive as he ate.

Just something I rustled up – was the modest reply.

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