Foodie Friday: Vij’s Chicken Curry

This is a recipe that I found in an interview with Vikram Vij, owner of Vij’s in Vancouver (arguably one of the best Indian restaurants in North America). It’s not too complicated and can be customized and tweaked with ease. All ingredients are readily available at any grocery store, and the use of bone-in chicken thighs actually makes for a fairly inexpensive meal. Prepared as below, this is a mild, creamy curry, but you can increase the heat as you like. This isn’t a quick after-work meal, but the time it takes is well, well worth the wait.

Ingredients:

• 3 lbs. chicken thighs, bone in, skin removed and washed
• 1/2 cup canola oil
• 2 cups onion, finely chopped
• 3 inch cinnamon stick
• 3 T chopped garlic
• 2 T ginger
• 2 large tomatoes, chopped
• 1 T salt
• 1/2 t coarse black pepper
• 1 t turmeric
• 1 T ground cumin
• 1 T ground coriander
• 1 T garam masala
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups water
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro

Method:

1. In a large, deep pan heat canola oil over medium heat. Add onion and cinnamon and saute for 5-8 minutes.
2. Add garlic and saute for an additional 4 minutes.
3. Add ginger, tomatoes, salt, pepper, turmeric, cumin, coriander, garam masala, and cayenne pepper. Cook for another 5 minutes, until the oil begins to separate.
4. Add chicken and cook for 10 minutes, until it looks cooked on the outside.
5. Increase heat to medium high; add sour cream and water.
6. When mixture boils, return heat to medium, cover, and cook an additional 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
7. When chicken is fully cooked through, remove and discard cinnamon stick and remove pan from heat. Let cool for at least an hour.
8. Remove chicken thighs from curry and remove meat from bones. Return meat to curry mixture and reheat over medium heat.
9. Serve portions in individual bowls with basmati rice and/or naan bread.

The real secret to this recipe is to let the curry sit and cool for as long as you can- an hour is the minimum. This allows the flavours to blend together beautifully. You can even prepare it the day before and let it rest overnight to get even better results- much like chili, the longer it sits, the better it is. I have made this recipe a number of times and it has always tasted fantastic and has been very well received. The only time I was a little disappointed is when I tried to rush things and didn’t give it time to properly cool and blend.

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