Smoked chicken curry

This Dhungar smoking method is a popular way to add smoky flavours to many Indian dishes, but it could be used to smoke anything from vegetables to roast chickens to cheese on toast if you wanted to.

• serves

  4

• prep

  5 minutes

• cook

  15 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Ingredients

• ¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil
• 4 cardamom pods
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 15-20 fresh curry leaves
• 2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
• 1 brown onion, finely chopped
• 3 tsp ground cumin
• 3 tsp ground coriander
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp Kashimiri chilli powder
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 800 g chicken thigh fillets, cut into 5 cm pieces
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup (250 ml) passata
• 200 ml yoghurt
• 1 piece natural charcoal
• 2 tbsp ghee
• 2 tbsp roughly chopped coriander, to serve

Instructions

1. Heat a large, low saucepan over medium heat and add the vegetable oil, cardamom pods and cinnamon. Fry for about 1 minute, then add the curry leaves. Add the garlic and ginger paste and onion and fry for about 3 minutes, or until fragrant and the onion starts to brown. Add the ground spices and stir well. Add the chicken, salt, passata and about ½ cup of water. Bring to a simmer and simmer for about 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Stir through the yoghurt.
2. When you add the chicken to the saucepan, place the charcoal directly on the gas burner and allow to burn, until red hot.
3. After you have stirred through the yoghurt, remove the pan from the heat and place a small metal bowl or ramekin directly on top of the chicken. Place the hot coal in the bowl and pour the ghee over the coal. Cover immediately, then stand for 10 minutes to infuse the curry with a smoky flavour. Carefully remove the coal and bowl and stir the curry. Scatter with coriander to serve.

Photography by Jiwon Kim.

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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.