Wednesday, January 9, 2019

CHICKPEA AND CHICKEN CURRY (DAAR)

CHICKPEA AND CHICKEN CURRY (DAAR)
As I’ve said many times before, there is nothing better than Mom’s home cooking. Because of that, over the last year, I’ve been sharing my mom’s recipes on my blog. It’s a great way to save them and of course to share them with all of you.
Some of my favourites are her Akni, Chicken Biryani, and Kuku Paka. Today I’m sharing her really delicious and pretty simple Chickpea and Chicken Curry, or as we call it Kukra Vari Daar. 
Ingredients for Chickpea and Chicken Curry:
– 1.5 tbsp of oil, olive or canola
– 1/3 – 1/2 of a 28fl oz can of crushed tomatoes
– 1 tsp of dhana jeeru (a ground cumin and coriander mix)
– 1/4 heaping tsp of haldi (turmeric)
– 1 tsp minced garlic
– 1 tsp minced ginger
– 1 tsp salt (you can add more or less to taste)
– 2 full chicken breasts cut into 3 or 4 pieces each
– 4 fistfuls of fried onions (you can buy in in the ethnic isle of a grocery store)
– 2 – 3 tbsp of fresh chopped cilantro
– 1 can of chickpeas
Instructions for Chickpea and Chicken Curry:
  1. In a large pot, add the oil, crushed tomatoes, dhana jeeru, haldi, garlic, ginger and salt. Heat it on high and mix for a few minutes until well combined.
  2. Add all the fried onions and then reduce the heat to medium.
  3. Put in 2 tbsp of fresh chopped cilantro and mix it well. Then let it cook for a couple minutes.
  4. Add in the pieces of chicken. Cook it until the chicken is no longer pink and make sure to stir occasionally.
  5. While the chicken is cooking, blend up your chickpeas with a can of water. My moms says the chickpeas need to be totally runny so if you need to add a little more water to get the right consistency, go ahead.
  6. Once the chicken is cooked, add the blended chickpeas to the pot and stir. If the consistency is really thick, you can add up to 1/2 a cup of water. Bring it to a boil and then reduce heat to medium/low. Let it simmer for 10 minutes and then the Chickpea and Chicken Curry or Daar is ready to serve. You can garnish with another tbsp of fresh chopped cilantro.