# Chicken: Jalfrezi, Jalfreji, Jalfresi



## Margi Cintrano (Jul 21, 2012)

Buon Giorno, Ladies & Gentlemen,

For enthusiasts of curry and the piquant, this aromatic sensational dish is sure to please. Of course, it can be adjusted to your own palate and tolerance for piquantness. *** Photo to follow ...  

CHICKEN JALFREZI or jalfreji or jalfresi ... 

Regular olive oil 
1 grated large onion
2 minced garlic cloves 
750 grams of skinless chicken breasts and/or thighs 
3 Teaspoons cúrcuma powder
1 tsp. red cayenne piquant flakes or powder
1 1/2 tsps. salt
500g of ripe red juicy tomatoes
30g clarified butter or 2 tblsps. olive oil 
3 tsps. cumin powder
3 tsps. coriander powder
2 tblsps. freshly grated peeled ginger
30g fresh cilantro chopped finely
salt and freshly ground rose, green & black peppercorns 

1. heat 2 tblps.of oil in deep skillet and sauté the onion and then the garlic until tender. 
2. add the chicken pieces of choice ( I only eat the breast meat ), cúrcuma, red cayenne chili pepper, and the salt. Stir and sauté 10 mins. until golden and then, turn over the chicken pieces and sauté until golden.
3. add the tomatoes ( coulis blended peeled and de-seeded ) and cover the skillet and simmer 20 to 25 minutes.
4. then remove lid & continue simmering 10 mins. more for sauce to thicken.
5. then add the clarified butter or oil, the cumin, the coriander, the ginger and the fresh cilantro minced and simmer 7 minutes
6. salt and pepper to taste
7. serve with Basmati Rice and Naan or crusty hot bread of choice

+++ serve with Rosé Cava or dry Rosé wine of choice with a drizzle of lime ... Enjoy, Margaux Cintrano


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## Kylie1969 (Jul 21, 2012)

That sounds fabulous Margi, thank you 

We love curries


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## Margi Cintrano (Jul 21, 2012)

Kylie,

This is quite a subtlely sensational aromatic delight ... Our Gals and us, are confirmed Indian cuisine fans and as our Favourite Indian Cuisine, particularly southern Goa, Madras cuisines and Vindaloo ...  

However, this is quite an elegant, relatively simple dish and with Basmati, it is loved by all our Expat Friends.

Have nice wkend,
Ciao.
Margaux.


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## Steve Kroll (Jul 21, 2012)

For anyone who might be wondering, cúrcuma powder is turmeric.


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## Harry Cobean (Jul 21, 2012)

i don't see any peppers in the recipe margi.one of the basic ingredients for a jalfrezi is peppers.sometimes green sometimes red or both.without the peppers what you have is a basic curry.also no indian or pakistani chef(both have their own version of jalfrezi) would use chilli flakes.green finger chillies would be used.


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## Margi Cintrano (Jul 22, 2012)

Harry,

There is no red bell or green bell in this recipe, however, there is dry Red chili pepper, dried flakes in this recipe and I used: 1 dried red chili from Basilicata in this recipe. 

Sorry, I do not know what a green finger chili is. 

It is probably called something else in Spanish. I have not come across any Puglia Indian Markets. I brought the ingredients from Madrid.  

One can add peppers as to their palate dictates.

This is a lovely recipe and had just the right touch of piquantness and was aromatic sensational and my daughter and grand daughter were enthralled. 

Have nice Sunday.
Ciao, Margi.


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## Gravy Queen (Jul 22, 2012)

Chicken jalfrezi is a wonderful dish and thats a great recipe Margi. I often leave some things out though according to taste, so the absence of peppers wouldnt bother me, my son is not a huge fan of bell peppers. 

I also cheat sometimes (ssssh) with Chicken Jalfrezi - as Pataks do a wonderful concentrated paste and just a spoonful works wonders. 

Thanks for posting.


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## Harry Cobean (Jul 22, 2012)

Gravy Queen said:


> Chicken jalfrezi is a wonderful dish and thats a great recipe Margi. I often leave some things out though according to taste, so the absence of peppers wouldnt bother me, my son is not a huge fan of bell peppers.
> 
> I also cheat sometimes (ssssh) with Chicken Jalfrezi - as Pataks do a wonderful concentrated paste and just a spoonful works wonders.
> 
> Thanks for posting.


they do indeed gq & a delight it is too.....it also has red & green peppers in it
i won't mention the cheat either!!


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## Margi Cintrano (Jul 22, 2012)

*Gravy Queen: Thanks for your compliments*

Gravy Queen,

Firstly, thanks for the compliment ... My daughter and I were quite pleased with the turn out, as I had never made it before ... An Indian restaurateur Shabani, in Madrid had given me the recipe, and I was anxious to give it a whirl. I shall enquire about this MAGIC INDIAN PASTE !  THANKS. 

HARRY: the next time I prepare it in Madrid, in the autumn, I shall try it with red bell pepper & a green bell and employ fresh chili peppers from India, as there is a wonderful Indian wholesale and retail Market downtown. I shall advise on the difference. 


Thanks again,
Have a lovely Sunday,
Ciao, Margi.


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## Harry Cobean (Jul 22, 2012)

Margi Cintrano said:


> Gravy Queen,
> 
> Firstly, thanks for the compliment ... My daughter and I were quite pleased with the turn out, as I had never made it before ... An Indian restaurateur Shabani, in Madrid had given me the recipe, and I was anxious to give it a whirl. I shall enquire about this MAGIC INDIAN PASTE !  THANKS.
> 
> ...


the difference is that you will then have a jalfrezi not a basic "stock gravy" as employed in every indian restaurants "batch cooking",margi!!


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## Gravy Queen (Jul 22, 2012)

I just use vegetable oil - as Madhur Jaffrey suggests in place of ghee. - never cooked a curry with ghee ever. Curries still taste good. 

Stop nitpicking Harry you old trout.


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## Harry Cobean (Jul 22, 2012)

Gravy Queen said:


> I just use vegetable oil - as Madhur Jaffrey suggests in place of ghee. - never cooked a curry with ghee ever. Curries still taste good.
> 
> Stop nitpicking Harry you old trout.


not nitpicking gq.is a lasagne without pasta a lasagne no,is lancashire hotpot with chicken lancashire hotpot? no is a samber without lentils & lemon a samber? no is jalfrezi without peppers jalfrezi? no
it is a fundamental part of the dish that differentiates a basic batch cook stock gravy from a jalfrezi
madhur jaffrey was,by her own admission(like delia) a good homely cook,not a chef,she adjusted dishes for european tastes.


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## Gravy Queen (Jul 23, 2012)

Thank you I consider myself enlightened and feel so much better for it.


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## Harry Cobean (Jul 23, 2012)

my pleasure


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## Kylie1969 (Jul 23, 2012)

We too have tried the Pataks one, quite nice


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## Harry Cobean (Jul 23, 2012)

Kylie1969 said:


> We too have tried the Pataks one, quite nice


they do a phal sauce.......so hot you could strip paint with it too.but it does actually taste good,not just heat...deelish!!


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## Gravy Queen (Jul 23, 2012)

I'm after a Pataks Kashmiri one now - have to do a special trip to Asda for it but shall get a few in.


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## Margi Cintrano (Jul 23, 2012)

Gravy Queen,

Good Evening and yes, I shall scan the photo of the dish on Tuesday. My daughter Naia left at 7am for Zürich, and had got up literally at 4am, to go with her to the Bari Airport ... 

I am interested in the product you mention and we have a Food Land in Madrid, which is an Indian Wholesale and Retail Indian Market ... 

*** What are Pataks Kashmiri ? 

All my best, 
Margi.


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## Gravy Queen (Jul 23, 2012)

Kashmiri is another paste made by Pataks Margi, they do a wide range. I have tried recreating Kashmiri curry myself but it wasnt the same, so I'm going to cheat again and use Pataks. 

Kashmiri Masala Paste - Patak's Products


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## Steve Kroll (Jul 23, 2012)

I'm surprised by all the positive comments for Patak's. Blecch! Patak's is the Indian equivalent of hamburger helper or Prego pasta sauce.

Do all of you really find fresh spices to be so much trouble? I cook Indian 2 or 3 times a month. Once you  buy your spices, they last quite awhile and are cheaper and vastly better tasting than buying sauce that comes in a jar.


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## Harry Cobean (Jul 23, 2012)

Steve Kroll said:


> I'm surprised by all the positive comments for Patak's. Blecch! Patak's is the Indian equivalent of hamburger helper or Prego pasta sauce.
> 
> Do all of you really find fresh spices to be so much trouble? I cook Indian 2 or 3 times a month. Once you  buy your spices, they last quite awhile and are cheaper and vastly better tasting than buying sauce that comes in a jar.


no,not at all steve like most on here i enjoy the prep/real stuff etc that's why i post the pics as well as the finished article.it's just a question of time sometimes.i work from 8am til 7pm 6 days a week during the property "season".i tend to use the pastes rather than the sauces & the pastes are excellent imo.is it the sauces that are "blecch" or the pastes or both?


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## Steve Kroll (Jul 23, 2012)

Harry Cobean said:


> is it the sauces that are "blecch" or the pastes or both?


Sauces mostly. I've bought the pastes before and they're passable in a pinch. But the sauces all have a stale flavor that reminds me of leftovers.


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## Harry Cobean (Jul 23, 2012)

Steve Kroll said:


> Sauces mostly. I've bought the pastes before and they're passable in a pinch. But the sauces all have a stale flavor that reminds me of leftovers.


hmmmm,wonder if the stuff you get over there is made under licence elsewhere & not a uk import? i like my food(as you know!) & i've never noticed anything unpleasant like a stale flavour....wouldn't use it if there was.
mystery eh?


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## Steve Kroll (Jul 23, 2012)

Harry Cobean said:


> hmmmm,wonder if the stuff you get over there is made under licence elsewhere & not a uk import? i like my food(as you know!) & i've never noticed anything unpleasant like a stale flavour....wouldn't use it if there was.
> mystery eh?


Not a much curry consumed in this country, so it very well could be because they sit on the shelf longer over here.

In any case, the missus and I used to have curry night once a week. I bought a cookbook of 50 curry recipes and made a different recipe from the book every week for a year (well, a couple weeks short of a year I reckon ). There was enough variation in the recipes that we never grew tired of it. I only had to buy about a dozen or so different spices that covered almost every recipe. It's amazing all the different flavors you can get by switching up just a handful of spices.


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## Harry Cobean (Jul 24, 2012)

Steve Kroll said:


> Not a much curry consumed in this country, so it very well could be because they sit on the shelf longer over here.
> 
> In any case, the missus and I used to have curry night once a week. I bought a cookbook of 50 curry recipes and made a different recipe from the book every week for a year (well, a couple weeks short of a year I reckon ). There was enough variation in the recipes that we never grew tired of it. I only had to buy about a dozen or so different spices that covered almost every recipe. It's amazing all the different flavors you can get by switching up just a handful of spices.


that's the point i was trying to make earlier in the thread about peppers in jalfrezi.you know as well as i do steve that no indian restaurant in the world has 20-30 minutes to cook a dish unless it is a specialist dish that requires on the ticket prep/cook & service.they have 3 or 4 basic stock "gravies" kept warm on the back burners to which the chef adds the ingredients that make that gravy into the dish ordered.usually in less than 5 mins.
indian food is a wonderfully diverse cuisine with very subtle flavours,it's a shame that some less than good restaurants either colour people's judgement or put them off the food altogether with rip off imitations,same with mexican food too,well,over here it is anyway.
talking about mexican grub i was on holiday in cancun years ago & we hired a jeep & drove down to tulum,chichen itza & xelha to visit the mayan ruins & do some snorkelling @ the lagoon.ate some "proper" mexican food whilst driving around....unbelievable stuff!in one bar/restaurant the owner who was quite rightly proud of his country's cuisine/history told us that one of the mayan rulers(forget which) had 3 meals a day throughout his very long reign & no two dishes were the same.now that is diverse cuisine.reckon he was telling the truth steve? i'd like to think he was


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## Margi Cintrano (Jul 24, 2012)

Steve,

Thanks for your feedback. 

How did your salmon and balsamic floral vinegar turn out ? 

Ciao,
Margi.


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## Bolas De Fraile (Jul 24, 2012)

Harry Cobean said:


> i don't see any peppers in the recipe margi.one of the basic ingredients for a jalfrezi is peppers.sometimes green sometimes red or both.without the peppers what you have is a basic curry.also no indian or pakistani chef(both have their own version of jalfrezi) would use chilli flakes.green finger chillies would be used.


This is a good version H and the chef gives a good reason why its called 
Chicken Curry Recipe: Restaurant Style Chicken Jalfrezi; Shaan Khan, New Indian Cuisine - YouTube


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## Steve Kroll (Jul 24, 2012)

Harry Cobean said:


> talking about mexican grub i was on holiday in cancun years ago & we hired a jeep & drove down to tulum,chichen itza & xelha to visit the mayan ruins & do some snorkelling @ the lagoon.ate some "proper" mexican food whilst driving around....unbelievable stuff!in one bar/restaurant the owner who was quite rightly proud of his country's cuisine/history told us that one of the mayan rulers(forget which) had 3 meals a day throughout his very long reign & no two dishes were the same.now that is diverse cuisine.reckon he was telling the truth steve? i'd like to think he was


Wouldn't surprise me a bit, Harry. People sometimes forget that so many ingredients now considered integral to European and Asian cultures originally came from this continent. Mayans had been cooking with tomatoes, chilis, chocolate, corn, and beans for a thousand years before the first European explorers set foot here.

Unless you're in a state that borders it, Most Mexican restaurant food in the US tends to be limited to street food like tacos, enchiladas, tamales, and burritos. But as you found out, there's much more out there.

You've reminded me that I have a couple of Mexican cookbooks that I haven't dug into for awhile.


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## Steve Kroll (Jul 24, 2012)

Margi Cintrano said:


> How did your salmon and balsamic floral vinegar turn out ?


Very nice, thank you, Margi. Two of our guests couldn't (or wouldn't) eat fish, so I made an alternate meal of chicken. The balsamic reduction worked just as well for the poultry.


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## Margi Cintrano (Jul 24, 2012)

Bolas,

Thank you for posting your video for viewers of this recipe.

Ciao, Have Nice Tuesday,
Hope that you are feeling better,
Margaux.


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## Margi Cintrano (Jul 24, 2012)

Steve,

I am pleased to hear the good news. 

Kind Regards.
Margi.


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## Margi Cintrano (Jul 24, 2012)

I shall post a Photo of the dish that we had following the recipe tomorrow or Thursday.

Best regards.
Margaux.


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## Harry Cobean (Jul 24, 2012)

Bolas De Fraile said:


> This is a good version H and the chef gives a good reason why its called
> Chicken Curry Recipe: Restaurant Style Chicken Jalfrezi; Shaan Khan, New Indian Cuisine - YouTube


ahh,so it's called jalfrezi because of the peppers!! that chef is brilliant....funny guy too.his language is nearly as bad as ours in the kitchen eh?
shame about the raj tho'.....ooops butter fingers!!
see you early friday am,love to madge
H


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## Harry Cobean (Jul 24, 2012)

Steve Kroll said:


> Wouldn't surprise me a bit, Harry. People sometimes forget that so many ingredients now considered integral to European and Asian cultures originally came from this continent. Mayans had been cooking with tomatoes, chilis, chocolate, corn, and beans for a thousand years before the first European explorers set foot here.
> 
> Unless you're in a state that borders it, Most Mexican restaurant food in the US tends to be limited to street food like tacos, enchiladas, tamales, and burritos. But as you found out, there's much more out there.
> 
> You've reminded me that I have a couple of Mexican cookbooks that I haven't dug into for awhile.


well get diggin' then!!


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## Margi Cintrano (Jul 29, 2012)

*Photo of Recipe*

Margaux´s Photo


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## nono407 (Aug 4, 2012)

Very nice


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## Kylie1969 (Aug 5, 2012)

That looks really nice Margi


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## Kylie1969 (Aug 5, 2012)

Bolas De Fraile said:


> This is a good version H and the chef gives a good reason why its called
> Chicken Curry Recipe: Restaurant Style Chicken Jalfrezi; Shaan Khan, New Indian Cuisine - YouTube



Cheers for the video Bolas


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