Chicken Honey & Mustard Masala – a dish I had seen somewhere on a restaurant’s menu, under Chefs Specials but never ordered. I just wasn’t sure how I felt about it!
It’s only when I cooked a Honey & Mustard Chicken dish (see previous post), that I realised that it would work really well as a curry!
I think I was also missing Dijon mustard. There seemed to be a couple of weeks where it just wasn’t available. Seriously I couldn’t find it anywhere. So when I did get some it was going in everything! :).
I’ve made this reasonably spicy. The mustard does accentuate the chilli heat. It’s quite easy to use less chilli, or more chilli to suit your taste.
And if you’re suffering from a head cold or feeling a bit chesty, this is the curry for you. It certainly helps you breathe easier… A curry for singers too!
So I based this curry on the flavour profile of the recipe on my previous post. I used Chaat Masala in the marinade. Chaat masala contains lovage seed which has thymol compounds, similar to thyme. The sweet paprika got swapped for Kashmiri chilli. If you want a mild dish, just use sweet paprika instead of Kashmiri chilli. And if you haven’t got Kashmiri chilli, use two teaspoons of paprika and one teaspoon of chilli powder, it’s not going to be far off.
Dijon mustard works in this dish. If you are tempted to use English mustard I would use a little less than what’s in the recipe. You want a standard, cheap honey too. Don’t go using your £15 jar of Manuka in this!
The crispy onions work great in this curry. When I was devising the recipe, I was thinking of the combination of mustard and onions on a hot dog! They also give a nice texture. I was thinking that some gherkin would work, but I’ll save that for another time!
The cream softens everything and makes it a lot lighter. I choose single cream for this especially. There is no reason you couldn’t use double or if you were wanting to be healthier, yoghurt would be a perfectly reasonable substitute.
Have fun and try belting out some Pavarotti after eating!
Chicken Honey & Mustard Masala
Ingredients
Chicken Marinade
- 750 g chicken breast cut into chunks
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp chaat Masala
- 3 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
- 2 tsp turmeric powder
- 0.5 tbsp plain natural yoghurt
Crispy Fried Onions
- 2 tbsp oil
- 1 small onion peeled and sliced.
Onion Paste
- 2 tsp fenugreek
- 1.5 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 small onions diced
- 0.5 tsp salt
- 0.5 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- ½ green pepper
- 2 small green finger chillies deseeded
The Curry
- 4 tbsp oil or ghee
- 3 tsp black/brown mustard seeds
- 1.5 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 1.5 tsp sweet paprika
- 5 tsp mild madras curry powder or mix powder
- 400 ml water
- 2.5 tbsp honey
- 1.5 tbsp Dijon mustard
- 4 tbsp single cream
- 1 tbsp dried fenugreek leaf
- Chopped coriander to garnish
Instructions
Marinate The Chicken
- Mix the Kashmiri chilli, turmeric, salt and chaat Masala with the diced chicken. Leave to marinate for a few hours or overnight in the fridge.
Fry The Onions
- Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a pan, when hot add the sliced onions and fry stirring often until brown and crispy. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and put on kitchen paper on a plate to remove excess oil.
Make The Onion Paste
- In the same pan the onions were fried in, heat the oil and when hot add the fenugreek and fennel seeds. Fry until sizzling and aromatic.
- Add the diced onions and salt. Cook on a moderate heat until golden brown.
- Add the garlic and ginger paste and fry for a minute
- Add the green pepper, coriander stalks and chillies. Fry for a couple minutes.
- Take the pan off the heat and pour the mixture into a bowl to cool.
- Once cool, blitz the cooked onion mixture to a smooth paste.
Cook The Curry
- Heat the oil or ghee in a pan. Once hot add the mustard seeds. Cook until they start to sizzle and pop.
- Add the garlic and ginger paste, cook, stirring for around 40 seconds.
- Add the onion paste and cook for 1 minute
- Add the turmeric, paprika and madras powder.
- Cook gently, stirring for around 40 seconds. Add a splash of water if the spices start to stick.
- Add the chicken and marinade to the pan and stir to coat in the spice mixture.
- Once the chicken is pretty much sealed add the water.
- Bring to a simmer and add the honey and mustard. Stir in and bring back to a simmer. Cook gently with a lid on for approximately 15 minutes. If it’s looking a little dry add a small amount of water.
- Add the cream and dried fenugreek to the pan, bring back to a simmer and continue to cook for 10 – 15 minutes with the lid off or until the chicken is fully cooked through.
- Check for seasoning and sprinkle over the fresh, chopped coriander