When I lived in Spain, I used to watch the Karlos Arguiñano cookery show on TV. He’s what we now call a celebrity chef. Karlos is from the Basque Country; and although he owns a few restaurants and has many cookery books out, he continues to participate in TV shows and collaborate with many magazines. He’s a lot of fun to watch, and apparently is really “down to earth”, according to a friend of mine who has had the pleasure of meeting him in person.
Whenever I’m in Spain, I like to get as many foodie magazines as possible for inspiration for new dishes. Oftentimes though, I bring them home and then forget about them…so as I was doing some cleaning the other day, I found one of these weekly collectibles in Karlos’ series.
This recipe is an adaptation of his version of curry. Additionally, I’ve created my own curry powder mix.
- 1.5 kg chicken pieces (I used thighs and legs)
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 3-4 medium carrots, chopped
- 4-5 garlic cloves, sliced
- 1 paprika pepper, sliced (I used yellow, but any colour will do)
- 2 tablespoons curry mixture*
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 3/4-1 cup water
- coconut oil
- coarse sea salt
- *For the homemade curry mixture:
- Mix together the following:
- 2 tablespoons ground cumin
- 2 tablespoons ground coriander
- 1 tablespoon ground fennel
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
- In a large pot, brown the chicken in some coconut oil or lard.
- In the meantime, in a saucepan over low heat, with some coconut oil or lard, poach the vegetables (onion, carrots, garlic, and pepper).
- When the vegetables are soft, set aside to cool slightly.
- Puree them with an immersion blender or food processor.
- Season with salt, to taste. Set aside.
- Once the chicken is browned on all sides, add the wine, water and curry mixture.
- Cook on low heat/simmer for 35-40 minutes until the chicken is done.
- Add the vegetable puree and cook an additional 5 minutes.
- Serve immediately.
- *For the spice mixture: if you do not have ground spices, simply use a coffee grinder to grind up the seeds.
WOW!
Delicious.
The best thing about this recipe is that it forms a great base to experiment. The consistency of the sauce is just how a curry should be.
Try adding a couple of small hot red chillies chopped into the mixture while the chicken is cooking or adding a small can of coconut milk as you blend in the pureed veg. Both transform to give a new curry every time.
Thank you
Thank you Jim! And thank you for the great ideas for adding the chillies and the coconut milk.. I’ll definitely try it that way next time. Awesome! 😉 Debra xx