Vegetarian jeera 'chicken'

Jeera chicken as a dish originates from the Indian Kenyan community which included my gran in the 1950s. Jeera means cumin. I was reminded of it this weekend when Gipsy Spread was looking for a chicken curry to cook. He decided against jeera chicken for something a bit more saucy, but I was reminded of this dish when I spotted a reduced pack of quorn 'chicken pieces' in Waitrose. I don't normally buy these, as I generally don't buy vegetarian ingredients trying to replicate meat, but the promise of jeera 'chicken' the first time in 20 years was too much for me to ignore. Also, having now done this, I could also have been doing this the whole time with paneer aswell. D'oh!


What you will need
2 table spoons cumin seeds
5-6 black corns
4-5 cardommon
4 green chillies
3 cloves garlic
A thumb sized piece of ginger
1 tea spoon ground coriander
2 tea spoons ground cumin
450g 'chicken pieces' (I used quorn)
4 table spoons plain yoghurt (optional)
1 tea spoon garam masala
2 table spoons chopped coriander


Begin by toasting 1 table spoon of the cumin seeds in a dry pan for 1 minute. When toasted, set aside and break up slightly.

 

Next place the other table spoon of cumin seeds in a pan with 2 good table spoon of oil, the black peppercorns and the cumin seeds. Heat through for 1-2 minutes.


Next stir in the crushed garlic, grated ginger and chopped chillies, cooking for a further minute before adding in the ground cumin and coriander. 


After a minute when the spices become fragrent, stir in the 'chicken pieces' and cook for 3-4 minutes, until starting to take on some colour.

Finally stir in the yoghurt (if using), half a gls of water and the garam masala. Cook for 810 minutes to reduce the sauce/evaporate the liquid.

Before serving, stir through the toasted cumin and plenty of fresh coriander.

Serve with some hand made chapatis.