Chicken pathia

Pathia curries are sweet and sour in flavour. Although they are usually quite mild, they can be rather spicy at some restaurants, so Dan Toombs suggests you can add more chilli powder to taste to his recipe.

Chicken pathia. Credit: Quadrille / Kris Kirkham

• serves

  2

• prep

  10 minutes

• cook

  40 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• 300 g (10½ oz) skinless chicken thighs or breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces, or pre-made chicken tikka pieces (see recipe here)
• Oil spray (optional)

For the sauce

• 2 medium onions (approx. 250 g/9 oz), thinly sliced
• ½ red capsicum (bell pepper), thinly sliced
• ½ tsp salt
• 3 tsp rapeseed (canola) oil or ghee or oil spray
• 3 tsp garlic and ginger paste (see Note)
• 3 tsp tomato purée (paste)
• 125 ml (½ cup) unseasoned passata or tinned (canned) chopped tomatoes
• 3 tsp curry powder or mixed powder (see Note)
• ½ tsp Kashmiri chilli powder (more or less to taste)
• 250 ml (1 cup) warm chicken stock
• 3 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp mango chutney
• ½ tsp tamarind concentrate or tamarind sauce

To finish

• 1½ tbsp canola oil or oil spray
• ½ small red onion, finely chopped
• ½ tsp kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
• ½ tsp garam masala
• Juice of 1 lemon (more or less to taste)
• 1½ tbsp finely chopped coriander (cilantro)

Instructions

1. If you have cooked chicken tikka, you can skip this step. If cooking raw chicken or raw marinated chicken, preheat the air fryer to 200°C (400°F). Lightly spray your cooking basket with oil and add the chicken in one layer. Air fry for 10–15 minutes, turning halfway through cooking. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
2. Place the onions, capsicum (pepper) and salt in a bowl and add the oil. If you are on a reduced-calorie diet, squirt the veggies all over with oil spray instead of adding the oil. Mix well with your hands or a spoon. Pour it all into the cooking basket and air fry for 10 minutes, stirring halfway through cooking. Carefully spread the garlic and ginger paste over the veggies for the last minute or two of cooking.
3. Pour it all back into the mixing bowl or a blender and add the remaining sauce ingredients. Blend with a stick blender or in the blender until smooth. Set aside.
4. Pour the 1½ tablespoons of oil into a small cake tin or another suitable metal pan that fits inside your air fryer. If you are on a reduced-calorie diet, simply spray the chopped red onion with oil to coat instead. Add the red onion and air fry for 3 minutes or until the onion is turning soft. Pour your prepared curry sauce over the onion and air fry for 10 minutes.
5. If you used the oil, after 10 minutes your sauce should be quite hot, and getting warm if you used oil spray. Add the cooked chicken, stir it in and continue cooking for another 5 minutes or until the curry is hot enough to serve and the chicken is heated through.
6. To finish, stir in the kasoori methi, garam masala and add salt and lemon juice to taste. Serve garnished with the coriander (cilantro).

Note

• Garlc and ginger paste can be purchased at supermarkets; alternatively, make your own using Dan Toombs’ recipe.
• To make Mixed Powder, combine 3 tsp ground cumin, 3 tsp ground ginger, 1 tbsp Madras curry powder, 3 tsp paprika, 3 tsp ground turmeric and 1 tsp garam masala. Leftover mix can be stored in an airtight container for up to 3 months.

This is an edited extract from The Curry Guy Air Fryer by Dan Toombs (Quadrille, HB $36.99). Photography by Kris Kirkham.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.