Why should tandoori restaurants have the monopoly on melt-in-your-mouth tender chicken?! We sent our Curry Research Unit on a mission to discover the secrets behind your tandoori favourites and they came back with a bellyful of inspiration. One of the magic ingredients is a little bit of cornflour. In ‘the trade’ they call this magical ingredient a tenderiser, but the science is really quite simple: by coating the chicken you seal in more of the moisture for a totally succulent result.
The quantities provided above are averages only.
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
1
Chicken Stock Pot
2
Brown Basmati Rice
4
British Chicken Breasts
2
Cornflour
1
Red Onion
2
Jalfrezi Spice Mix
2
Chopped Tomatoes
1
Lemon
5
Coriander
1
Creme Fraiche
(Contains Milk)
Boil a medium-sized pot of water with your stock pot. Once your stock pot is fully dissolved, take out 100ml of stock and keep to the side for later. Wash the rice under running water for at least 30 seconds. Cook the rice in the boiling stock for 25 mins. Drain the rice and put back in the empty pot off the heat, covering with a tea towel.
Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces. Mix the cornflour with a pinch of salt and pepper. Coat the chicken thoroughly in the cornflour.
Peel and chop the onion in half lengthways. Very thinly slice the onion into half moon shapes.
Heat 1 tbsp of oil in a non-stick frying pan on medium-high heat. Once hot, add in the chicken and slightly brown off on all sides (around 5 mins). Tip: Do not overcrowd the pan as you want to get some colour on the chicken. Tip: No need to cook it all the way through as we’ll do that later.
Remove the chicken from the pan and turn the heat to medium. Add 1 tbsp of oil and gently fry the onion for a few mins. Add the jalfrezi spices and cook for a further minute. Tip: If you like milder curry, add half now and adjust later until it’s just right.
Add back the chicken together with the tinned tomatoes. Turn the heat to low and allow to bubble away for 10-15 mins.
After 10 mins, squeeze in 1 tbsp of lemon juice. Chop up 3 tbsp of coriander and stir 2 tbsp into the sauce. Add the reserved stock from earlier to loosen up your sauce. Lastly, stir in your crème fraîche.
Top the rice with the curry, a dollop of crème fraîche and a bit more chopped coriander. Savour the succulence!