This dish is a perfect blend of African and Asian ingredients that is seen so often in East African cuisine. Coconuts are plentiful in coastal Africa and can be found in foods on both the East and West coasts. The curry flavour is a nod to the Indian influence on East African cooking. Serve this with coconut milk chapatis.
This recipe calls for ghee, which you can easily make and have on hand in your kitchen if you prepare a lot of African or Asian foods. You can make up a batch of ghee ahead of time using this recipe, or you can make last minute ghee, by melting the butter for this recipe slowly and scooping off the solids as it melts.
Ingredient list
1 2 inch piece of fresh ginger
5 cloves garlic
2 fresh hot chile peppers
1 large onion
2 tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1 3-4 pound chicken, cut into pieces, and most of skin removed
1 ⁄ 3 cup ghee or clarified butter
2 tablespoons curry powder or garam masala
3-4 cups chopped leafy green vegetable such as kale or spinach
4 cups coconut milk, fresh or canned, but definitely unsweetened
Preparation
Peel ginger and garlic and cut in large pieces. Remove stem and seeds from peppers. Pound ginger, garlic, peppers and curry (or garam masala) together in a large mortar into a paste, or puree them in a blender or food processor.
Peel and slice onion. Heat oil in large skillet and saute onion for about 5 minutes, until soft. Add vegetable paste and continue to cook on low heat for about 10 more minutes.
In a large, heavy pot, preferable cast iron, melt the ghee and fry the chicken pieces until brown on both sides, then cover and cook until cooked through.
Remove chicken from pot and set aside on a chopping board. Add onion mixture to pot. Add kale and cook until soft.
Add coconut milk to pot and bring to a light simmer.
At this point I take the chicken meat off the bones, chop it and add to the pot. If you prefer to leave the chicken pieces whole that is fine too. Cover and simmer another 10 minutes.
Serve with chapatis, or rice, or both.
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