Chicken Jalfrezi is another very popular “desi” restaurant dish. I like it because its nice and spicy and tend to order it quite often. Finding the perfect recipe for this dish for me has been very time consuming and confusing. I was asked to teach this in one of my cooking workshops. Searching for a perfect recipe and a bit of information on this dish i came across different versions.. Some say its origins are from pakistan, some say its a cross between chinese and bengal…But whatever is true, i just say its delicious! Each recipe was different, each one stating something different , and confusing me a lot!
I have to be honest enough to say i dont know if this recipe is “genuine” or not..I wonder if anyone will be able to tell me, but this is what i made and it turned out delicious. I tried to combine a few recipes which i got off the internet, so basically i complied all the necessary steps in each recipe and put them all together and this is the result 🙂
INGREDIENTS FOR 4:
500 grams of boneless chicken, cubed
Marinade: 1 teaspoon each ginger garlic paste, cumin powder, turmeric powder and salt to taste and red chilli powder to taste
FOR THE SAUCE:
1 large spanish onion
500 grams of chopped red tomatoes
2 teaspoons  ginger garlic paste
salt to taste
1 teaspoon Nitu Didi home made garam masala powder (please see the youtube tutorial)
1 cup of cubed green bell peppers (capsicum)
red chilli powder to taste
chopped green chillies and coriander leaves
6 tablespoons of cooking oil, ghee or butter or even olive oil(cooking medium is your choice on how you want the dish to taste)
METHOD:
Marinate the cubed chicken breast in the spices and salt and keep aside while you prepare the sauce.
Heat 2 spoons of butter/oil in a pan and fry the chopped tomatoes with 1 teaspoon of ginger garlic paste. Sautee till the tomatoes are cooked and mushy. Cook til they are completely dry and then set aside to cool. When cooled totally put them in the blender and blend it well. DO NOT PUT IT INTO THE BLENDER WHILE ITS HOT….
Heat another 2 spoons of butter /oil and sautee the chopped onions with 1 teaspoon ginger garlic paste till soft and transparent. Add the garam masala and cook for a few seconds more. Take off the heat and set aside to cool. When cooled totally put into  blender and blend into a paste ( i used my amazing bullet)
TO COOK THE FINAL DISH:
Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter/oil in a good non stick pan ( i used my ceramic pan) and then sautee the chicken on very high heat till the chicken turns white and just cooks. Do not over cook the chicken. Add the cubed green peppers, green chillies and coriander leaves. Add the onion and tomato paste and bring the whole mixture to a boil. If you want you can add a tablespoon or two of honey. Bring to a boil, check and correct seasoning and serve. Add red chilli powder if you want it extra spicy
This dish is best eaten with naan. To make naan do click here

NITU DIDI TIP: The onion and tomato sauce can be made in advance and kept in the fridge or even frozen. If you want to make this dish for a party then making the sauce in advance is a good idea. If you want to make this with paneer, mixed vegetables, fish or meat you can just substitute the chicken.
To buy good quality ceramic pans do visit my online store