Low Fat Chicken Ceylon
Author: Dan Toombs
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: British Indian
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 - 2
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- ½ tsp black mustard seeds
- 1 star anise
- 1 x 2.5cm (1 inch) piece of cinnamon stick
- 2 green cardamom pods – lightly smashed
- 5 fresh or frozen curry leaves
- 2 tsp garlic and ginger paste
- 1 - 2 green bird’s-eye chillies, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1½ tbsp finely chopped coriander stalks
- 70ml tomato purée
- 300ml low cal base curry sauce - heated
- ½ tsp Kashmiri hot chilli powder
- 2 tsp mixed powder or curry powder
- 1 tbsp tandoori masala
- 1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 200g chicken breast cut into bite sized pieces or low fat tandoori chicken tikka
- 200ml lite coconut milk
- ½ tsp dried fenugreek (methi) leaves
- 2 tsp smooth mango chutney
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ tsp garam masala (see page xx)
- 1 tbsp freshly chopped coriander, to finish
- Salt
Instructions
- Heat the oil over medium high heat in a Balti pan or frying pan. When visibly hot, add the mustard seeds. When they begin to crackle, add the star anise, cardamom pods, cinnamon stick and the curry leaves and temper them in the oil for about 20 seconds. Now stir in the garlic and ginger paste and the chopped chillies and fry for a further 20 seconds.
- Add the coconut flour and coriander stalks and give it all a good stir. The pan will be looking a bit dry so add the tomato puree and a little of the base sauce until you have a thick paste. Simmer for about 20 seconds and then add the remaining base sauce.
- Allow this to come to a bubbly simmer and then stir in the chicken, coconut milk, chilli powder, mixed powder/curry powder, tandoori masala and the black pepper. Stir to combine and let it all bubble for about 3 - 5 minutes until the tandoori chicken is heated through or in the case of raw chicken cubes simmer until cooked through.
- To finish, add the dried methi and mango chuntey. Stir it all nicely into the sauce. Squeeze the lime juice over the top, sprinkle with the garam masala and garnish with the chopped coriander to serve.
Hi Dan,
Does the Chicken no longer need to be Pre-cooked (stewed) in the low fat recipes?
Hi Paul
Indian food is all about those layers of flavour. In the low fat recipes, I am telling people they can cook the chicken from raw for ease. I have added a low fat tandoori chicken recipe to my site which will make the curries even better. I’m also going to include a pre-cooked chicken recipe in the new book but don’t want that extra step to stop people making the recipes. For me… I always pre-cook the meat in some way. Thanks, Dan
A huge thank you. I sent all my Indian cookery books to charity 15 years ago; in despair that I couldn’t create a decent curry. That was ok while we were living in suburbia and could get deliveries. Then we moved to the middle of deepest, dankest Kent with only one (excellent) delivery service. They fell foul of the HO in August and we were left bereft, until I found your recipes . I got your books (although I tend to work from the website on kitchen proof laminated copies) and I’ve worked through Korma, Shasni, Passanda, Chaat, Methi, and more, but this Ceylon really hits the spot. I’ve even begun to tweak the heat levels to our preference.
Have you come across Nilgiri / Neel Geeree / Nil Giree the minty green one? And have you considered adding it to your repertoire?
Hi Nadge
Thank you very much. Great to hear you are enjoying the recipes. I’ve heard of Niliri, the district in Tamil Nadu and have tried many recipes from that area. No specific dish called Nilgiri / Neel Geeree / Nil Giree though. Is there a dish I need to try? Perhaps from a restaurant you know? Thanks, Dan