Kruger Braai ~ Chicken Karri

Inspired by Kruger National Park Safari and our friends Bucks & Sharon Braai. A classic Royal Coconut murg curry cooked on an open fire with nature's smoky flavour running through the heart of a rich saucy curry.  Simple to create, a must if you enjoy little cooking drama and authentic flavours of India.

Ingredients

1kg chicken pieces on the bone - skinless, 2 deep cuts on each

1.5 tbsp sunflower oil
20g salted butter

Spices & fresh Indian herbs

1 tsp Gujarati garam spice , use high quality, lots of fakes on the market, give me shout if you want some.
1 tsp turmeric
3 tsp coarsely ground coriander seeds
1 tsp toasted cumin seeds
1 tsp freshly ground cumin
1 tsp quality red chilli powder
0.5 tsp mace
3 cardamom pod seeds, crushed

3 tsp freshly ground green chillis
3 tsp freshly crushed garlic
4 tsp freshly ground ginger
2 tsp salt

1 tin coconut milk

Garnish;

Juice of lemon & rind
1 tbsp chopped coriander leaves
0.5 tsp ginger match sticks

Cooking Procedure

(i) Gently warm through the sunflower oil and sizzle 1 tsp of garam masala + salt in a deep heavy frying pan for 1 minute, add the chicken. Brown off on medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir continuously for even cooking and not to overheat and burn the spices.

(ii) add all the dry spices and the butter, mix thoroughly so the meat is evenly coated followed by the coconut milk. Cover the pan with a tightly fitting lid or kitchen foil to retain moisture, cook on low heat for 25 mins. Add 0.5 - 1 cup of water to create a medium consistency sauce.

(iii) pick out the large chucks of meat and set aside. To create a smoky BBQ flavour, using a pair of tongs take each piece of meat and grill over hot charcoal for 5 minutes until you see the surface just beginning to sizzle. Return the.meat back into the sauce, warm through for further 10 mins so the sauce gently simmers so as to infuse it with the BBQ flavours from the charcoal grilled meat. Rest for 5 minutes.

(iv) Squeeze of lemon juice and the sprinkling of lemon rind, garnish with coriander and the ginger match sticks.

Serve with buttery naan bread and plain basmati rice.

Delicious central piece, enjoy!