This dish was taught to me by my wife who learned it from her Pakistani family. She and I have always referred to it as Wok Chicken since we use a 1980's era Westbend electric wok to make it. Try finding one of those today and you will be relegated to eBay listings.
Because the dish has such strong aromas, I usually find myself outdoors with the electric wok plugged into the outlet on the patio. Had I cooked it in the house, it would be days before the smells of onion, coriander and garlic dissipate.
Afghani Chicken uses south Asia spices to create a huge amount of flavor that is spicy, sweet and hot all at the same time. The spicy flavors come from ground coriander, garlic and ginger paste and Indian 5 spice known as panch phoron. Panch phoron consists of the following seeds: cumin, brown mustard, fenugreek, nigella and fennel. Fried in oil, panch phoron adds a unique depth and flavor to this dish. The heat of the dish is from jalapenos fried in the oil with the 5 spice mix and from Indian chili powder. Finally the sweetness is obtained from the copious amount of onions that are fully cooked down to create the sauce for the chicken.
This is such an easy dish to prepare that I seem to remember it was the first recipe I taught my daughter to make. Most of the work and time involved is cutting up all the onions and the chicken, the rest is just gathering the spice, oil, water and your cooking utensils. Most nights we serve it with nana or paratha, but you can serve it over white rice as well.
I really hope you will enjoy this as much as we do, because it became a regular go to dish when I need something uncomplicated and quick to prepare. Enjoy!
4-5 servings
Ingredients
2 ea. Chicken breast-cubed
6 ea. medium sized onion
3 ea. jalapenos-quartered length wise and deseed
1 tsp. Panch Phoron
2 Tbsp ground coriander
2 Tbsp garlic ginger paste
1 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 c. cilantro chopped
Salt to taste
1. Begin by cutting the onions into a small dice
2. Cut the chicken into bit size cubes and toss with the coriander, chili powder and salt
3. Add enough oil to the wok/pan to cover the bottom plus a bit extra.
4. When the oil is hot, fry the 5 spice mix and jalapenos until the peppers have begun to
blister. Remove the peppers and reserve for later.
5. Add in the chopped onion and cook until they become nicely brown, stir very often as they will burn quickly.
6. Add the garlic ginger paste and cook for 30 seconds.
7. Add in the chicken and cook until mostly done.
8. Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and continue cooking until the water and the onions have formed a slightly thickened sauce.
9. Return the peppers to the sauce and turn off the heat.
10. Top with the cilantro and serve.