Remember that amazing peppery chicken curry I posted some time ago? Man, how I loved that dish. Loved it so much that I’ve cooked it at least twice a month ever since we first ate it. I also handed out the recipe to many friends, so it’s safe to say I’m spreading the gospel. India will be proud of me. All kidding aside, I never knew black pepper could have so much flavor in and of itself or I would have started cooking with it like this eons ago.

This time I wanted to try the basics used in that recipe, but give it a slight tomato twist. Not sure what to expect I trodded over to the kitchen, armed with camera and tripod. And what do you know; it turned out really, really good!

Ingredients:

1 pound chicken fillet
1 can diced tomatoes (14 oz)
2 small onions
1 large garlic clove
1/2 a cup water
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 tsp tandoori spices
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp (hot) red chili
2 tbsp honey
salt
oil

Directions:

Start with the onions. Peel them and chop one of the onions in quartered rings. Give the second onion a coarse chop.

Transfer the coarsely chopped onion to a blender or immersion blender bowl and puree it.

Grate one large or two smaller garlic cloves.

In a small bowl you combine the tandoori spices, hot chili powder (or cayenne), ground ginger and curry powder. The chili powder isn’t enough to blow you away, but it will give a really good kick.

Cut one pound skinless and boneless chicken breasts into one inch cubes and season with salt and pepper.

Heat 1 or 2 tbsp oil and cook the chicken cubes until they lose their rawness. Remove them from the pan.

Heat 2 more tbsp oil, add 1/4 tsp black and cook the pepper for 30 seconds. I love this smell! Add the quartered onion rings and cook for 3 minutes.

Add the grated garlic and the onion mash. Cook for 5 more minutes, over low heat.

Add the spices and cook for a minute to release the fragrance. Take a whiff; this smells spectacular!

Add a 14oz can diced tomatoes, 2 tbsp honey (this gives a hint of sweetness and a great flavor), 1/2 cup water, 1/2 tsp salt and stir. bring to a boil and simmer, with the lid on, for 25 minutes.

After which you add the chicken cubes. Put the lid on and simmer for another 20 minutes. Then check the seasoning.

Garnish with coarsely cracked black pepper, finely minced flat-leaf parsley and serve with Naan bread, Moroccan flat-bread or, as I like to do, stuff it inside pita bread. It also works with rice and steamed broccoli. Or French fries. But then again, French fries are good with almost anything. Just like bacon.