For the last day of curry week, we have taken two recipes from the Dalit Spices curry recipe book and made a traditional Tandoori Chicken and a Aubergine Bartha.

Tandoori Chicken
Ingredients

800g chicken thighs and drumsticks
1 tsp red chili powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
Salt to taste
200g of yogurt
1 tsp red chili powder
Salt to taste
2tbsp grated ginger
2 tbsp  crushed garlic
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp garam masala powder
2 tbsp cooking oil
Melted butter for basting
1 tsp Chaat Masala
Onion rings and lemon wedges to garnish

Method

  • Skin the chicken and pat dry.
  • Make some incisions into the meaty parts of the chicken ready for the marinade
  • Mix the first lot of chili powder, lemon juice and salt and rub into the chicken.
  • Put the chili coasted chicken in the fridge for half an hour
  • Mix the remaining chili powder, salt, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, garam masala and cooking oil with the yogurt. Apply this marinade to the chicken and refrigerate for at least 3-4 hours, ideally for as long as possible, if possible over night. .
  • When ready to cook, heat the oven to 200˚C and then cook the chicken for 15 minutes
  • Baste the chicken with the melted butter and return to the oven for 45 minutes or until done.
  • Sprinkle with chaat masala (I missed this bit off as I didn’t have any and it was still delicious!)


Aubergine Bartha (This is a great vegetable curry by itself!)

Ingredients
300g Aubergine, washed
250ml vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
2 tbsp crushed garlic
2 tbsp grated ginger
¼ tsp turmeric
¼ tsp ground coriander
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ garam masala
¼ tsp chopped coriander
250ml water

Method

  • Heat the oven to 180˚C
  • Coat the aubergine liberally in the vegetable oil and pierce them with a fork in a few pieces.
  • Bake in the oven for 45-60 minutes until very soft.
  • Remove from the oven and let them cool slightly.
  • When cool enough to handle, remove the skin and discard.
  • Return the flesh of the aubergine to the pan and add the tomato, onion and all the remaining spices except the fresh coriander. Cook in the oven for 10 minutes until the onions are brown
  • Add the water and cook for a further 20 mins until the aubergine is very soft.
  • Remove from the oven and mix until very smooth.
  • Garnish with fresh coriander

These were together with some rice, naan bread and a wedge of lemon and some onion rings. Bon appetit!