CHICKEN AND PUMPKIN WITH SRI LANKAN SPICES AND TAMARIND

Prep time: 10 minutes, plus a few hours of marinating time Cook time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Serves 4

This is not an authentic Sri Lankan recipe, but an attempt at putting together some favourite foods – I love pumpkin in the winter – with tamarind. Sri Lanka is the place I most associate with tamarind. I had Sri Lankan roasted curry powder – you can buy it from spicemountain.co.uk – but have given the ingredients and method if you want to make it.

INGREDIENTS

For the marinade

– 1 tsp turmeric

– 1½ tsp chilli powder – 1 tsp crushed black

pepper

– 1 tbsp tamarind paste

For the chicken

– 8 decent-sized chicken thighs, or a mixture of chicken joints, skin removed – 2½ tbsp coconut oil

– 1 large onion, finely

chopped

– 2½cm piece of ginger

root, chopped

– 6 garlic cloves,

crushed

– 2 sprigs of curry leaves – 1 tbsp Sri Lankan

roasted curry powder – 4cm piece of cinnamon – 1-2 tsp chilli powder – 500g pumpkin or squash, peeled, deseeded and cut into 1.5cm chunks (prepared weight)

– 3 large tomatoes, chopped (or ½ tin of chopped tomatoes)

– 1 tbsp tamarind paste – ½ tbsp soft dark brown sugar (soft light brown is also fine), or to taste

– 2 green chillies, split lengthways (leave the seeds in or remove, depending on how hot you want your dish) – 250ml coconut milk – 2 tbsp chopped

coriander, to serve

For the Sri Lankan roasted curry powder

– 2 tbsp coriander seeds – 1½ tbsp cumin seeds – 1 tbsp black peppercorns

– ½ tbsp black mustard seeds

– 1 tsp green cardamom

pods, seeds only

– ½ tsp fennel seeds

– 4 cloves

METHOD

Mix the marinade ingredients together in a bowl with a teaspoon of salt, and add the chicken pieces. Turn them over in the mixture, cover and put in the fridge for a few hours (longer is fine). Turn over the chicken every so often.

To make the curry powder, put the spices in a dry frying pan and toast – you will be able to smell this happen. Don’t use too high a heat as the spices can burn. Scrape into a mortar and pound. Put in a jam jar where you can keep the excess.

In a large casserole, heat the coconut oil and add the onion, ginger and garlic. Cook until the onion is pale gold. Add the curry leaves, curry powder, cinnamon and chilli powder. Cook for another few minutes.

Now add the chicken and make sure it gets coloured with the spices; but don’t burn them, keep everything in the pan on the move. Adjust the heat as you need to.

Add the pumpkin and stir to coat in the spices. Add the tomatoes and cook until they collapse, turning the ingredients over frequently.

Add all the other ingredients, except the coriander, bring to just under the boil, turn the heat down and cover the pan. Cook for 20 minutes, or until the chicken joints are cooked through and the pumpkin is tender.

Taste for sweet-sour balance and add more sugar or tamarind if you need it. Scatter on the coriander and serve.