Chicken and Mushroom Tamarind Balti

[meggeth]

Heard a few mentioning the cook4one recipes, and in particular the chicken tamarind balti (never used tamarind in curries before), so I thought I'd give it a go. However, wife is vegetarian, so added a few extra veggies - you could take out the onions, mushroom if you wanted, but I enjoy having extra veg in my curry - then added my chicken after taking out her portion. Reduced original chilli by around half, but did add a little fresh chilli during frying (wife doesnt like curries too hot). We both love coriander, so added some fresh during cooking. Changed the suggested cooking to more of a fry spice method.  I also tend to use veg oil, with a heaped teaspoon of butter ghee, and 2-3 teaspoons of chilli oil - just find that this adds a little more flavour overall.

Must say, this turned out very, very tasty indeed. Definitely goes on my best of list! One of the wifes favourites. Sorry, forgot to take any pictures. 

Recipe

Ingredients :

For 1                                          For 2

1 tbs oil/tsp ghee/ chilli oil            2 tbs oil/tsp ghee/ chilli oil   
1/2 onion roughly chopped            1 onion roughly chopped
1/4 green pepper medium chopped         1/2 green pepper medium chopped   
1/4 tsp cumin seeds                      1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 green chilli chopped             1 green chilli chopped   
1 tsp garlic/ginger paste            1 1/2 tsp garlic/ginger paste   
1 tbs tomato paste dilute            2 tbs tomato paste dilute

Spices...
1/2 tsp chilli                   1 tsp chilli      
1/2 tsp coriander               1 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp cumin                  1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp mix spice               1/2 tsp mix spice
1/4 tsp onion seeds               1/2 tsp onion seeds
1/4 tsp fenugreek               1/2 tsp fenugreek
1/4 tsp salt                       1/2 tsp salt

2 tbs tamarind sauce            3-4 tbs tamarind sauce   
1/2 tsp sugar                   1 tsp sugar
2 tbs chopped coriander            4 tbs chopped coriander
20g creamed coconut            40g creamed coconut   
1/2 tsp crushed methi leaves            1 tsp crushed methi leaves   
3 mushrooms   sliced            6 mushrooms sliced
1/2 tomato diced                    1 tomato diced
Pre-cooked chicken


Method :

Heat oil, and fry cumin seeds, onion, pepper and green chilli for about 1 min
Add garlic/ginger paste and tomato dilute and fry for 30 secs
Add spices and fry for around 20 secs
Add 1 ladle of base and mix
Add tamarind, sugar, chopped coriander and cook for 30 secs
Add a couple more ladles of base, add creamed coconut and methi leaves, cook until coconut melts
Add mushroom and tomato and cook for 30 secs
Add pre-cooked chicken and cook for approx 5 mins until hot, adding more base to get correct consistency (medium thickness)
Sprinkle with fresh coriander to finish

Thanks to cook4one for great recipe, and a few on here who suggested this one!

[karl.s.berg]

That's a very nice recipe, Meggeth!

I tried it the other day, as I was intrigued by the onion seeds. I did make some modifications:
- chickpeas instead of veggies and mushrooms,
- red onion instead of white,
- added mustard seeds (mistook them for onion seeds  ;D but did at onion seeds too).

I have to say, it was a very nice dish that tasted substantially different than the other dishes I usually do with my base. Thumbs up!