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Chicken sali, rice and sev in a black bowl on a stone background.

Chicken Salli

  • Author: Rachel Phipps
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 35 minutes
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: Serves 2
  • Category: Dinner
  • Method: Curry
  • Cuisine: Indian

Description

This delicious style Parsi-style recipe for a Chicken Salli Curry pairs tender chicken thighs and apricots with a rice, spicy sauce, topped with either crispy, crunchy pieces of Indian sev snack, or ‘salli’ shredded fried potatoes for that classic crunch.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 1/2 tbsp light oil
  • 1/2 cinnamon stick
  • 2 green cardamom pods
  • 1/2 dried bay leaf
  • 1 small brown onion
  • 2 large cloves garlic
  • thumb size piece fresh ginger
  • 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
  • 1/2 tbsp paprika
  • 1/2 tbsp garam masala
  • 1/2 tsp ground turmeric
  • 1/2 tsp chilli powder
  • 1/2 tsp sea salt
  • 4 x skinless boneless chicken thighs
  • 200g (7 oz) fresh tomatoes
  • 100ml (scant 1/3 cup) water
  • 1 tsp white wine vinegar
  • 55g (2 oz) dried apricots
  • 1 tsp soft brown sugar
  • handful fresh coriander
  • pre-made or homemade potato salli, or sev strands, to serve

Instructions

  1. Heat the oil in the bottom of a medium to large non-stick frying pan or shallow casserole set over a medium high heat. Add the cinnamon stick, cardamom pods – bashed lightly to reveal the seeds – and the bay leaf. Cook until aromatic and sizzling.
  2. Meanwhile, peel and roughly chop the onion, garlic, and ginger, and blitz into a rough paste using a mini food processor or mini chopper. Add this to the pan and cook for 5 minutes or so until soft, fragrant and only just starting to colour.
  3. Stir in the spices and the salt, and cook for a further minute, toasting the spices until fragrant.
  4. Stir in the chicken thighs, cut into bite sized chunks until they’re coated in the thick onion spice mixture. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring a few times, until the chicken pieces have taken on a bit of colour.
  5. Chop the tomatoes and add them to the pan, cooking and stirring for another few minutes until they’ve started to break down into a sauce.
  6. Stir in the water and the vinegar, and turn up the heat to bring the sauce to the boil, before reducing it to low to simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.
  7. Quarter the dried apricots and stir them into the sauce, along with the brown sugar. Cook for a further 5 minutes, before removing from the heat and stirring in the coriander, roughly chopped, and topping with the potato sali or sev before serving.