African curry

5 Best Hot Curries

Curry News

As any curry lover knows, there’s a lot more to Indian food than just hot dishes. But there comes a time when only a tongue-burning, lip-numbing, stomach-ripping curry will do. For some people this means the hotter the better as they tuck into their favourite hot curries. Can you handle it? “Yes, I want it hotter,” these heat loving curry fans cry. Heat is mainly provided from chillies and black pepper (this is what chefs used before chillies arrived on the sub-continent) but other ingredients such as garlic, ginger and paprika also provide heat. All we know is some people just can’t get enough of the heat and many continue to search for the world’s hotttest curry.

Here are Five of the Best Hot Curries.

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1. Lamb Vindaloo (British Indian Restaurants)

Lamb Vindaloo is the favourite hot curry for food lovers who are after some serious heat. Originally a pork and vinegar dish from Goa, British restaurants took the name to represent a super spicy curry, although it is a lot less nuanced than the authentic version. The restaurant-style Vindaloo has heat from the peppercorns and chilli, sourness from the vinegar and includes the dish’s trademark chunks of potato.

2. Pork Vindaloo (Goa)

As the only state in India that is largely Catholic there are no taboos surrounding the use of pork in Goa. This Pork Vindaloo, like so many in this state, are a combination of Portuguese and India flavours and cooking styles. The result is a spicy dish with plenty of vinegar and is far removed from the British restaurant-style Vindaloo. • Recipe courtesy @thecurriedlondoner (Instagram)

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3. Green Chilli Chicken (Andhra)

Green in appearance and with plenty of green chillies, this South Indian dish is dryish and fiery in heat. Green Chilli Chicken is also sometimes Andhra Chilli Chicken as a nod to the heat from that neighbouring state. It’s a quick dish to make, with the chicken first marinated with the chillies, coriander, curry leaves, garlic, ginger and yoghurt, then added to a sauce of onions, tomato and mixed with spices.

4. Naga Chicken (Nagaland)

Nagaland is one of the smallest states in India with a population of fewer than two million people. Located in the far north-east of the country, bordering Myanmar (formerly Burma) it is famed for the super hot Naga Chilli and this Naga Chicken dish. Used in curries it gives a slightly sweet and tart flavour as well as fierce heat, producing a dish that is on par with a Vindaloo in the hot stakes.

5. Ambot Tik (Goa)

Ambot Tik is another hot and spicy dish from Goa that combines Portuguese and Indian flavours. It can be cooked with any any type of fish but popular choices are shark and prawns. If using the prawns keep their shells on to soak up the range of flavours. To cook this curry, first create the aromatic masala by dry frying spices, combine with a sauce of onions, tomatoes and tamarind and add the prawns.

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How to cook… Rougaille Gateaux Piment

Recipes

Serves 4 as a main dish

Gateaux Piment (Chilli Cakes) is a popular street-food snack in Mauritius, and is sold in small shops or from homes of people looking to earn a bit of extra income. It is particularly popular at breakfast time and locals often eat it with bread and butter. You may also see these advertised as Gato Pima, which is the Creole spelling of the snack. In this curry the Gateaux Piment are added to a red, very lightly spiced rougaille, with a touch of French influence.

What you need…
• 1 recipe Gateaux Piment
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon garlic paste
• 1 teaspoon ginger paste
• 2 green chillies, sliced
• 2 sprigs of thyme, chopped
• 4 curry leaves
• 6 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 0.5 teaspoon salt
• 0.5 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 spring onions, chopped
• Few coriander leaves, for garnish


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How you make it…
1. Heat oil, fry onions, garlic and ginger until the onions soften (about 5 minutes).
2. Add the chillies, thyme, curry leaves and fry for 2 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, salt and pepper, cover the pan and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add water if needed. The tomatoes should have broken down and formed a sauce. If they haven’t then continue cooking.
4. Add the Gateaux Piment, spring onions and coriander leaves, and serve.

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CHEF’S TIP
The Gateaux Piment will soak up the juices of the rougaille so make sure it’s not too thick before adding them.

If you like this you should try our…
Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona • Chicken Feet Curry (Africa)

Why were these cakes shivering? … Because they were chilli.
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5 Best African Curries

Curry News

The links and trade between the British and Portuguese African colonies and India ensured that curry became popular in Africa. During those times spices, knowledge and people moved between India and Africa and today the Indian diaspora in Africa numbers three million, with large numbers of people in South Africa, Mauritius, Reunion and the east African nations of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Zanzibar, the semi-autonomous island Tanzania continues to be a major producer of black pepper cloves, cinnamon and nutmeg.

Here are Five of the Best Curries from Africa.

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1. Bunny Chow (South Africa)

It’s simple, it’s rustic and it’s tasty… it’s a Bunny Chow! You’ll find someone selling them on every street corner in Durban, South Africa. Ideal for that steamy tropical climate, yet also great comfort food for cold winters. Cut a loaf of bread in half, scoop out the white stuff leaving you with two crust shells. Fill with hot chicken curry, settle down and use the bread you scooped out to mop up and eat your curry. No cutlery permitted.

2. Frango a Cafrial (Mozambique)

In a classic case of coals to Newcastle, the Mozambiquan dish Frango a Cafrial was brought to India by the Portuguese during the colonial-era and is now a popular Goan dish called Cafrael. It’s a simple dish to make – marinate the chicken in a green spice paste, then fry – and although the dish traditionally uses chicken legs you can also use bite-sized chunks of chicken.

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3. Mauritian Fish Curry with Aubergine (Mauritius)

Take one Indian Ocean island with great fishing around its coral reefs, add a huge Indian diaspora and it’s not surprising you can get great fish curries in Mauritius. Simply create a mildish sauce with spices and curry leaves then add delicious fresh fish with aubergine slices. Recipe here.

4. Chicken Feet Curry (South Africa)

Chicken Feet Curry is shared at bars in Africa while chatting to friends. This mild recipe is from a small restaurant in Johannesburg, South Africa. The best way to eat this curry is with your fingers and to suck each piece to extract the slow-cooked flavour and the (small amount) of meat from the feet.

5. Swahili Chicken Curry (Kenya)

Swahili Chicken Curry, a creamy on-the-bone chicken dish, is a popular East African dish served with rice and chapatti. This recipe is from the Hilton Hotel in central Nairobi, Kenya.

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5 Best World Curries

Curry News

Curry is usually associated with India, but curries are enjoyed all over the world – and every country has its own favourite. Here are Five of the Best Curries from Around the World.

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1. Sri Lankan Fish Curry (Sri Lanka)

As with many South Indian dishes, Sri Lankan cuisine combines the spices of India with the creaminess of the coconut and tanginess of tamarind to create that delicious taste of the coast. Fish is an abundant resource and while it is usually cooked in chunks, with a little extra patience and care cooking the salmon darne whole absorbs the flavours well and looks great. You’ll need a large, flat-bottomed pan to cook the salmon darnes whole or split the sauce into two pans. Recipe here…

2. Chinese Chicken Curry (UK/China)

Chinese Chicken Curry has very little to do with China but everything to do with curries created by Chinese takeaways, which in the UK were initially run by people from Hong Kong who served Cantonese dishes adapted to local tastes. It uses the basic Chinese/Chip Shop Curry Sauce and adds chicken and lots of onion. Some takeaways also add other ingredients such as carrot, peas or potato slices.

3. Curried Sausages (Australia)

Curried Sausages feels like a dish that time forgot. Almost certainly taken to Australia by emigrating Brits in the 1950s or ’60s it’s got all the nostalgia of food served up by granny. And Australia’s contribution to the curry world tastes great. Very simply it combines fried or baked sausages (preferably spicy) with onions, potatoes, peas and carrots, all in a mild curry sauce that is little more than curry powder, flour and water.

4. Sauce Rouge Curry (Mauritius)

A popular Mauritian dish, Sauce Rouge Curry (simply meaning Red Sauce Curry) combines ingredients used in Indian and European cooking to reflect the history of this Indian Ocean island, which has been ruled by the French and the British and has a predominantly Indian population.

5. Swahili Chicken Curry (Kenya)

Swahili Chicken Curry, a creamy on-the-bone chicken dish, is a popular East African dish served with rice and chapatti. This recipe is from the Hilton Hotel in central Nairobi, Kenya.

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How to cook… Chicken Feet Curry

Recipes

Serves 6 as a main dish

Chicken Feet Curry is shared at bars in Africa while chatting to friends. This mild recipe is from a small restaurant in Johannesburg, South Africa. The best way to eat this curry is with your fingers and to suck each piece to extract the slow-cooked flavour and the (small amount) of meat from the feet.

What you need…
• 1 litre water
• 1kg chicken feet
• 5 Tablespoons oil
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 1 red pepper, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon garam masla
• 1 teaspoon flour

How you make it…
1. Boil the chicken feet for 1 hour.
2. Add the oil to a pan and heat to a medium heat. Add all other ingredients (except the flour) until the onions are soft (but not brown).
3. Turn down the heat. Add the chicken, half of the water and the flour, and cook for 10 minutes.
• Recipe courtesy Florence Chareka, chef at TSA restaurant in Randburg, near Johannesburg, South Africa.

If you like this you should try our…
Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona

Why did the chicken cross the road 100 times? … To get fit.

How to cook… Swahili Chicken Curry

Recipes

Serves 3–4 as a main dish

Swahili Chicken Curry, a creamy on-the-bone chicken dish, is a popular East African dish served with rice and chapatti. This recipe is from the Hilton Hotel in central Nairobi, Kenya

What you need…
• 5 teaspoons cumin powder
• 2 teaspoons turmeric powder
• 5 teaspoons cardamon powder
• 2 teaspoons chopped garlic
• 2 teaspoons chopped ginger
• 500g yoghurt
• 2 Tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 litre coconut milk
• 1kg chicken thighs and legs
• 4 teaspoons corn oil
• 100g chopped onions

For the garnish
• 100g chopped onions
• 1 tomato cut into small cubes
• small handful of chopped coriander
• pinch of parsley

How you make it…
1. Mix half of the cumin, turmeric, cardamon, garlic, ginger, yoghurt and lemon juice and 150ml coconut milk, and coat the chicken with the mixture to marinade. Set aside for two to three hours.
2. When the chicken has marinated arrange the pieces on an oven tray, making sure they are all well coated with the mixture. Preheat the oven to 180 C and cook the chicken for 25 minutes. Check that all the pieces are cooked through.
3. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onion then stir in the rest of the cumin, turmeric, cardamon garlic, ginger, coconut milk and lemon juice. Reduce the sauce to half of its original amount then add the rest of the yoghurt and let it boil for 1 minute
4. Add in the chicken pieces and heat through.
5. Add the garnish and serve with rice and chapatti.
• Recipe courtesy of Dominic Keya, chef at the Hilton, Nairobi, Kenya.

If you like this you should try our…
Medium Chicken Curry • Chicken Madras • Chicken Vindaloo • Chicken Bhoona

Kenya make this delicious Swahili Chicken?

Recipe… Kuku Wa Kupaka (Swahili Chicken)

Recipes

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Kuku Wa Kupaka (Swahili Chicken)
Serves 6

What you need

• 30g cumin powder
• 15g turmeric powder
• 30g cardamon powder
• 15g chopped garlic
• 15g chopped ginger
• 1l coconut milk
• 500ml yoghurt
• 30ml lemon juice
• 1kg chicken thighs and legs
• 100g chopped onions
• 20ml corn oil


For the garnish
• 100g chopped onions
• One tomato cut into small cubes
• A small handful of chopped coriander
• A pinch of parsley

 

How to cook it

1. Mix 15g cumin, 7.5g turmeric, 15g cardamon, 7.5g chopped garlic, 7.5g chopped ginger, 150g coconut milk, 250ml yoghurt and 20ml lemon juice and coat the chicken with the mixture to marinate. Set aside for two to three hours.

2. When the chicken has marinated arrange the pieces on an oven tray, making sure they are all well coated with the mixture. Preheat the oven to 180 C and cook the chicken for 25 minutes. Checked that all the pieces are cooked through.

3. Heat the oil in a pan and sauté the onion and stir in the rest of the cumin, turmeric, chopped garlic, chopped ginger, coconut milk and 10ml of lemon juice. Reduce the sauce to half its original quantity then add the rest of the yoghurt and let it boil for one minute

4. Add in the chicken pieces and heat through.

5. Add the garnish and serve with rice and chapatti.

• Recipe courtesy of Dominic Keya, chef at the Hilton, Nairobi, Kenya.