Topic: Chasni

[bickerton]

OK - here goes my first post and controversial it may be but here in central Scotland Chasni is on the menu at every BIR restaurant and takeaway so I think it should be on the list!

My mums been asking me to try to make it for months so I thought I give it a go.

Beware though, this is BIR curry, but not as most of you will know it!

Recipe - chicken version.

Vegetable oil to 3/4 cover the bottom of the pan.
three medium onions finely chopped
four cloves Garlic minced
2.5cm cube of ginger grated.
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp extra hot chili powder
100g Heinz tomato ketchup
75g mango chutney
200ml Heinz tomato soup
284ml double cream (try single cream instead)
2 tbs Lemon juice
1 tbs vinegar (I used white wine vinegar)
1/2 tsp mint sauce
4 large Chicken breasts chopped into bite sized cubes.

Method

Fry the onion garlic and ginger in the oil until the onions start to brown (10Min's)
Add the spices tomato ketchup and mango chutney.
stir well and add the tomato soup.
gradually add the cream stirring continuously at first.
add the lemon juice, vinegar and mint sauce.
Then add the chicken, bring to the boil then simmer for 30 minutes.

Lovely, if I say so myself but please try it and if you make any improvements let me know.

What a great site this is!

[Stephen Lindsay]

That looks good bickerton. I've often described a Chasni as a cross between a Pathia and a Tikka Masala and your recipe captures that crossover perfectly. I don't think your post will be controversial as there's been quite a bit of interest on the site regarding the differences between Scottish and English curries and of course the Chasni is in essence The tartan curry!"

[Stephen Lindsay]

PS, I should have asked a few questions regarding the origin of your recipe, e.g. is it one you found on the web, were given by a chef, came to by yourself etc? I'm from Dundee and a lot of takeaways do the Chasni here though I am most familiar with the Ashoka version.

[bickerton]

I forgot to include a table spoon of Vinegar (I used white wine vinegar but any will do.) (now added)

The origin of my recipe is straight out of my head.  I have been trying to track down a chasni recipe for ages but the ones I found on the internet just didn't make me think it was going to taste right. My local TA do a fantastic version but 'wont share'! All they would tell me was that it had tomato soup and cream and vinegar and lots of other stuff!  so I just had a go at what I thought it could be.

The truth is that the flavour is pretty good, the sweet and sour, but the colour is virtually the same as tomato soup. The TA one is paler and redder. but for a start, I was pretty happy with this one.

Ill probably try adjusting the amount of soup, chutney and vinegar to play around with it but I'd be happy for anyone else to see if they can better it.

[Stephen Lindsay]

I will definitely give yours a go in the next couple of weeks - I posted my attempt the other day and here is the link.

http://www.curry-recipes.co.uk/curry/index.php?topic=4871.0

[Stephen Lindsay]

PS I notice you use 6 chicken breasts so is this a recipe for 6 servings or 4 big ones?

[bickerton]

to be fair, they were small ones, so probably 4 big ones would do for 4 portions(amended post 1). if you do give it a go. Id probably go for single cream rather than double.  As it cooled it became quite think so I added a little water to get the right consistency.

Ill give yours a go too and we can compare notes...

cheers

[Gazza63]

Any chance of a scaled down version for a generous single portion curry, I want to try one of these Chasni's but dont want to be stuck with lot's leftover if i mess it up or don't like the taste, unfortunately the Thai wife doesn't like Indian curry, like most Thai's there is something about the smell that put's them off, which is so funny when I once had the pleasure of watching a pot filled with live frogs being boiled and a couple of hours later they couldn't get enough of it, just in case your wondering they broke the little sod's legs before they chucked them in the pot to stop them escaping all I could think of was frog pee soup.

[bickerton]

Hi ThaiExpat

I am fairly sure that simply halfing the ingredients will mean you only make enough for two people or one for you and the same again for the day after. Id keep the spices to a full teaspoon but otherwise half all of the other ingredient quantities.

Let us know how you get on. 

[Stephen Lindsay]

see my post for a scaled down BIR version based on bickerton's recipe