North indian Chicken Masala Recipe with a hint of mediterranean

Does Dates in chicken curry, sounds weird ?

Not so much weird  would be mint leaves and “jaifal” (nutmeg) which features in my Indian Mediterranean chicken curry . Yes I just made up that recipe name for this chicken recipe. Its a Indian-Mediterranean fusion chicken recipe.

But It’s a take-off on my regular old  Indian chicken curry  that I learnt  while working in a restaurant.  The special added spices mentioned above bring as a simple twist in the flavours, to bring out that  hint of Mediterranean in the north Indian chicken masala curry.

Mediterranean Indian Chicken recipe

_{Photo only for illustration purposes}
It is not recommended to put more than 2 dates in 500 gms meat, as they can overpower the other flavours with their sweetness.

For the mint, just three sprigs of mint with at least 7 to 8 leaves on each sprig. Just chop them whole with tender stalks to put in the curry.

For the jaifal (Mace /nutmeg) use dry scraped peace’s of nutmeg bought from your local Indian grocery.

Forget taste.com.au recipes, Allrecipes and BBC good food recipes, this is the real deal!

As you can see from the above the main star ingredients other than 500 gms ( half a kilo Chicken) is the super three below

Chopped Mint ( 3 sprigs)
Scraped pieces of Mace ( 1 to 3 pieces)
Dates ( 1 or two)

Ingredients for Mediterranean chicken recipe

· 1 large onion
· 6 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
· 50g ginger, roughly chopped
· 4 tbsp vegetable oil
· ½ teaspoon coriander seeds crushed
· ½ teaspoon grinded pepper
· 5cm cinnamon stick
· 3 to 4 bay leaves
· 2 to 3 cardamom crushed
· 2 to 3 cloves whole
· 1 tsp chilli flakes + 2 freshly chopped chilli
· 1 tsp garam masala
· 2 tsp turmeric
· 2 Dates
· 3 sprigs chopped mint
· 2 to 3 pieces of Mace
· 400g can chopped tomatoes or fresh diced tomatoes
· Chicken skinned, boneless or with bones(about 500 to 600g)
· 2 tbsp chopped coriander

Method for Recipe

1. Roughly chop the onion, transfer to a small food processor, and add 3 tablespoons of water – process to a slack paste. You could use a stick blender for this or coarsely grate the onion into a bowl – there’s no need to add any water if you are grating the onion. (Optionally , onion can also be diced instead to brown on the pan- same with garlic and ginger below). Tip into a small bowl and leave on one side.

Dice the dates and mint and keep aside.

2. Put the chopped garlic and ginger into the same food processor and add 4 tbsp water – process until smooth and spoon into another small bowl. Alternatively, crush the garlic to a paste with a knife or garlic press and finely grate the ginger.

3. Heat the oil in a wok or sturdy pan set over a medium heat. Combine the dry spices like cardamom, cinnamon , bay leaves , cloves, Mace and chilli flakes and add to the pan in one go. Swirl everything around for about 30 secs until the spices release a fragrant aroma (don’t let it burn).

4. Add the onion paste – it will splutter in the beginning. Fry until the water evaporates and the onions turn a lovely dark golden – this should take about 7-8 mins or more. Add the garlic and ginger paste and cook for another 2 mins – stirring all the time.

5. Add the chicken and keep stirring for 7 to 10 mins.

6. Stir in the garam masala, turmeric, and chopped dates and continue cooking for 20 secs before tipping in the diced tomatoes. Put the chopped mint in at this stage. Continue cooking on a medium heat for about 10 mins without a lid until the tomatoes reduce and darken.

7. You can add chicken stock if more gravy is needed. Simmer for 10-20 mins with a lid until the chicken is tender and the masala lightly thickened – you might need to add an extra ladle full of stock or water if the curry needs it. Wait for a layer of oil to form over the curry while it simmers , it means the curry is cooked and ready to eat.

Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve with Indian breads or rice
( The cinnamon stick, whole cloves and other spice bits can be removed from the curry if needed  as these are mainly only to bring the flavors out in the curry)

Photo of mace

1. Nutmeg is one of the two spices – the other being mace – derived from several species of tree in the genus Myristica. Wikipedia

Once you learn to make this chicken masala recipe, there is a way you can turn this chicken masala  to a chicken jalfrezi , a chicken korma, a chicken biryani or even a butter chicken, which i will cover in one of my other posts. (This is the secrets of the restaurants).

Related posts:

Recipe for Hyderabadi Keema ( Lamb or Beef spciy mince ) Tasty Vada Pav Recipe – Indian Street food Indian chutneys – Green chutney – mint sauce – corriander sauce – mint sauce chutni