A very simple curry without chilli!
This is one for those unfortunate people who are allergic to chilli, although there is plenty of heat from the black pepper. I guess this must have been quite a typical dish before chillies arrived in India.
Ingredients
4 chicken thighs, 4 drumsticks, skinned
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp salt
3 tsp black peppercorns
2 onions
2 garlic cloves
thumb sized piece of ginger
6 curry leaves
1 tsp coriander powder
Method
Roughly grind the peppercorns. Mix 1/2 tsp with the turmeric, salt and lemon juice and rub into the chicken. Leave to marinade for a couple of hours.
Chop one of the onions, put it in a food processor with the garlic and ginger, blitz to a paste adding enough water to turn the blades.
Slice the other onion.
Heat 2 tbsp oil (not olive) in a pan, cook the sliced onion over a medium heat until browned. Add the curry leaves, cook for another minute then tip in the paste and the coriander powder. Cook, stirring until the smell of garlic has gone then add the chicken and any marinade juice.
Cook for 5 minutes, turning the chicken, then add some water to the pan (about 150ml) and cover.
In a dry frying pan toast the remaining pepper, until it is just smoking - no more or it will burn. Add most of it to the chicken, saving some for the end. Cook the chicken for 30 - 40 minutes, until done. You may need to add a little more water as it cooks. Taste the sauce for seasoning, a little salt at this stage should
perk things up. Finish by sprinkling the rest of the pepper over, serve with cumin rice and chapatis
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