Mauritian-Style Chicken and Fruit Dry Curry
Michel Rostang, restaurant L'Absinthe, Paris. Flavors of Paris and the Ile-de-France. Total time: 15 to 30 minutes. Preparation time: 10 minutes. Marinating time: Overnight. Cooking time: 20 minutes. Difficulty: Easy. Chef's Note: You can place the remaining garnish (croutons, raisins, pistachios, apples, peaches, pears, fresh tomatoes and cilantro) in separate small bowls on the table. You could also substitute beef or lamb for the chicken in this recipe. — Michel Rostang. Sommelier: To accompany this dish, we recommend a Schoenenbourg Grand Cru 2001 from Marcel Deiss.
⏱️ Prep: 10 min🍳 Cook: 20 min
Ingredients
| 600 g | chicken thighs | |
| 30 ml | olive oil | |
| 125 g | thinly sliced onion | |
| 150 g | fresh tomatoes | |
| 150 ml | chicken stock | |
| 4 | cloves of garlic (spices) | |
| 1 Tbsp | 15 ml | ginger |
| 4 | cloves | |
| 4 | cardamom pods | |
| 4 | sprigs of thyme | |
| 4 | curry leaves | |
| 1 | cinnamon stick | |
| 0.5 tsp | 2.5 ml | ground aniseed |
| 0.5 tsp | 2.5 ml | powdered saffron |
| 80 g | curry powder | |
| 120 g | raisins (dried fruit garnish) | |
| 80 g | prunes | |
| 80 g | dried apple | |
| 80 g | dried pear | |
| 80 g | peaches | |
| 80 g | pistachios | |
| 40 g | toasted white bread croutons | |
| 100 g | chopped cilantro | |
| 50 g | green onion | |
| 40 g | fried onion |
Instructions
- Cut the chicken thighs into cubes and season with salt, pepper, 1/4 of the crushed garlic, 1/4 of the crushed ginger, thyme, curry leaf, clove, cinnamon stick and cardamom with a little olive oil (a little of each spice).
- Cover and marinate in the refrigerator overnight.
- In a wok, stir fry the chicken cubes over high heat for 10 minutes. Set aside. It's important to wait to add the spices until after the first cooking so that they don't burn.
- Heat the oil and add the sliced onion, garlic, ginger and curry leaf and sear the marinade well.
- Reduce the heat and add the saffron, aniseed and curry powder plus half the dried garnishes (raisins, prunes, apples, pears, peaches and pistachios); add the chicken stock.
- Reduce until the liquid has evaporated, then add the diced fresh tomatoes and chopped coriander.
- Return the chicken to the pan and heat through. Correct the seasoning and serve hot.