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Special Chicken Bengal
Special Chicken Bengal is a modern British recipe for a classic BIR curry of chicken tikka and potatoes in a mildly spiced base gravy flavoured with panch pharon that's served garnished with eggs. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic British version of: Special Chicken Bengal.
prep time
30 minutes
cook time
10 minutes
Total Time:
40 minutes
Serves:
2
Rating: 
Tags : CurryBIR CurriesSpice RecipesChicken RecipesBritish Recipes
This is a BIR (British Indian Restaurant) curry. Now, you won’t find it in every curry house… but when it’s listed on the menu go for it. What lifts the curry is the use of
, Bengali five spice mix. Adding just a little ground cinnamon to the standard mix curry powder also has a surprising effect on the flavour.
Ingredients:
3-4 tbsp vegetable oil
I medium onion, chopped
1/2 tsp sea salt
Pinch of kasoori methi (dried fenugreek leaves)
1 tsp
Panch Phoron
½ tsp brown mustard seeds
2 tsp
ginger-garlic paste
2 tsp
mix curry powder
1/8 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp kashmiri chilli powder
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 whole breast
Chicken Tikka, cubed
4 boiled potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 hard-boiled egg (halved or quartered)
2 tomato wedges
Sprinkle of ground coriander
300-400ml
base curry sauce or
Indian restaurant curry base
4 tbsp coriander (cilantro) leaves, to garnish
1 red chilli, sliced into rounds, to garnish
Method:
Mix together the mix curry powder with the cinnamon and Kashmiri chilli powder and set aside. Blend the tomato puree with 2 tbsp water and set aside.
Heat your frying pan (don’t use non-stick) briefly over medium heat. Once hot add the oil. As soon as the oil begins to shimmer add the panch phoran and mustard seeds. If the oil is hot enough, you should see little bubbles forming around the spices. Cook 15-20 seconds.
Stir in the ginger-garlic paste. Continue cooking, stirring constantly until the mixture stops spluttering (about 30 seconds). Now stir in the powdered spice mix. Stir constantly for 30 seconds, making sure it does not burn (if this is looking likely lift the pan off the heat).
Make certain you cook out the spices, but do not let them burn or you will have a bitter mess.
Increase the heat to medium high. Add the diluted tomato paste and stir until bubbles form (the oil will likely separate). This takes around 30 seconds to one minute depending on the heat.
Add ¼ of the curry base Stir until bubbles form (little craters really), around 30 seconds (a lively boil). Watch the edges of the pan. The curry will stick here, and that’s good. Just scrape it back into the base. But don’t let it burn.
Now add half the remaining curry base and stir briefly. Let it cook until the bubbles form again (about 1-2 minutes).
Stir in the remainder of the curry base and let cook until the bubbles form. Turn the heat down to low and add the pre-cooked chicken and potatoes. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes. If the gravy gets too thick add a bit more curry base, but don’t add any more water.
Turn into a warmed serving dish, garnish with the tomato wedges and egg pieces.
Garnish with the chopped coriander (cilantro) leaves and sliced chilli.
Serve with rice and/or Indian flatbreads.
