Chicken Jalfrezi Recipe, no onions, ready in 30 minutes!

Introduction

I love a good chicken jalfrezi, succulent chicken breast against the tangy jalfrezi sauce. This curry is really the South Asian stir fry. The vinegar gives a gentle nod to the Chinese influence on this chicken jalfrezi recipe. No onions are required, always a major bonus in my books, you can of course put them in if you prefer (I have given instructions below). Chicken Jalfrezi is great dish to have as a weeknight curry as it’s made in around 30 minutes and it is incredibly easy to make. It is also a great dish for a beginner cook.

This is one of the few dishes on my website that has more of a Bengali origin. The word jalfrezi comes from Bengali term spicy fry. Under the British Raj, left over roast meats and vegetables were thrown together and stir fried to create flavourful curry’s. This is how the jalfrezi evolved. Like the balti curry, the jalfrezi has become another South Asian and British fusion dish which is eaten in Pakistan, India and of course Bangladesh, along with being enjoyed in Britain.

Varying the dish

I have not included onions in this dish, as I do not believe it needs it. The jalfrezi is delicious without it! However if you did want to add some in, you could brown off 2-3 onions before adding the chicken and spices to the pan. This will give you a thicker jalfrezi sauce. The key step to the flavour is browning the chicken in the spices, garlic and ginger. This imitates the roasting of the meat as would have been done traditionally in the British Raj.

You can always add the vinegar and lemon juice at the end of simmering the capsicums at step 4 to give a tangier taste if that’s what you prefer. Just make sure you stir through thoroughly and allow it to simmer for a minute or so.

I personally like to use green capsicums, as I like the visual look green against the browned chicken. However there is nothing at all wrong taste wise adding in the red and yellow capsicums. You can cut the capsicums to any size you prefer, I like mine slightly on the chunky side, they will reduce in size as they cook.

You can of course use chicken thigh or even chicken on the bone for this recipe. However for me a traditional chicken jalfrezi uses chicken breast. It does not take long to cook, so the chicken breast remains succulent and does not dry out.

I always like to use freshly cut garlic and ginger rather than the ready made pastes you can buy in the supermarkets. Fresh garlic and ginger really does amplify the flavour of the dish. To save time, I sometimes in the week make a big batch of garlic and ginger which I throw into a food processor to cut finely. I then store this in an airtight container in the fridge. This easily will last the week and saves so much time on the day when cooking.

I have recently started to cook 1 kg of meat for my family 4 as those growing kids need a bit more these days. 1kg will comfortably last us a couple of days. Thirty minutes of effort will get you two dinners for the week sorted, not at all bad in my book. However if you do want to just make enough for one night for a family of four, 500-600 grams of chicken will be more than enough, half the remaining ingredients accordingly.

How to serve and store this dish

Those of you who know me, know that I love chapati with most of my curry’s. This dish is no exception. However I am quite open to having a jalfrezi with some rice as you can see in the pictures in the post. I have actually used brown basmati rice here for a healthier way to eat this dish. There is enough of a saucy base to a jalfrezi to enjoy it with rice, without it becoming too dry a mouthful when eating it.

I would serve this dish with some crispy spring rolls and mint chutney, the absolute perfect combination.

As mentioned earlier, if making this is bulk, it keeps very well in an airtight container in the fridge. You can also freeze the chicken jalfrezi for up to three months. When you want to eat it, let it defrost in the fridge overnight.

See my video on Youtube, Instagram or TikTok to see how to make this dish.

Ingredients

Feeds 7-8

Prep- 6 minutes

Cooking time- 20- 25 minutes

• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp black pepper
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp ground coriander
• 2 tsp salt
• 1kg boneless chicken (breast or thigh)
• 2 tsp garlic
• 2 tsp ginger
• 4 tomatoes (350-400grams), finely chopped
• 4 green chillies, finely chopped (to taste)
• 2 capsicums, de-seeded, and chopped into bitesize chunks (I personally prefer the look of green capsicums, however you could use a mix of colours as I have done in the images below)
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• Fresh coriander, finely chopped for garnish

Method

• Heat the oil in a pan, add the chicken, black pepper, paprika, ground coriander and salt, let the chicken brown. The chicken will release a little moisture as it cooks, but If the pan starts to dry out, add small splashes of water until the chicken is cooked.

• Then add in the garlic and ginger, stir through.

• You can then add in the tomatoes and green chillies, again stir through.

• The capsicums, vinegar and lemon juice can be now added to the pan, let everything cook on a low heat for 10-15 minutes, until you see the oil separate from the tomato base.

• Finish with fresh coriander