Brendan and I spent our honeymoon in Tanzania, Africa. The safari management group we stayed with, Asilia, served us a variety of dishes for each meal. This was a local curry dish that we enjoyed with dinner.
During our trip, we learned that fresh produce is actually hard to come by in Africa, which is why you won’t find any listed in these ingredients. We added black-eyed peas and served it over roasted sweet potato discs. It is traditionally served with rice, chapattis, or sambals.
Any substitutions were made because we simply didn’t have the ingredient, but the flavor was still very good.
I noticed that the recipe never called for salt, but I like it. I added it to the chicken before cooking, and then to the curry to taste.
Ingredients
¼ cup sunflower oil and 2 Tbsp for frying (we used EVOO)
2 small onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp fresh ginger, minced
1 chili pepper (green or red), deseeded, finely chopped (we used powder)
3 Tbsp curry powder
2 tsp cumin powder
2 tsp garam masala
2 cloves (we used cinnamon)
1 tsp turmeric
5 cardamom seeds (we used powder)
½ kg (18 oz) fresh tomatoes, skinned and cut into small cubes (I hand-crushed whole peeled tomatoes from a 28 oz can and saved the tomato juice for a future dish)
1 Tbsp tomato paste (I actually put a whole 6 oz can in)
1 cup coconut milk (I didn’t have anything I needed leftover coconut milk for, so I used the whole 13 oz can)
750 g (1.5 lbs) chicken deboned and cut into cubes
1 small bunch fresh coriander (added powder to the curry)
Directions
Heat 1/4 c sunflower oil on medium heat in a large pot. Sauté onions until translucent, then add garlic, ginger, chili, curry powder, and spices (through cardamom) and stir until darker in color and fragrant (around 5 minutes).
Add tomato paste and fresh tomato. Simmer on a low heat for 20-30 minutes, stiffing occasionally.
Add the coconut milk and simmer gently for 5-10 minutes until the sauce combines. Set aside.
Heat remaining 2 Tbsp sunflower oil in a large frying pan and sauté the chicken cubs until browned.
Add the chicken to the curry sauce, reheat and serve hot. Top with fresh coriander to taste.