Recipe of the day: Yudhika Sujanani’s township chicken

Chef and cookbook author Yudhika Sujanani draws on her childhood in Isipingo, south of Durban, for her township chicken recipe, a dish inspired by the blending of Indian and isiZulu cooking traditions.

In her cookbook, Madame Curry, Sujanani recalls growing up in a town where Indian shops, greengrocers, cafés and traditional herbalists formed part of the local landscape. Music by South African artists PJ Powers and Sipho “Hotstix” Mabuse played from transistor radios, reflecting the township’s cultural mix.

Raised mainly on curry and rice, Sujanani said chicken prepared in this style was a family favourite. She recreated the dish from memory, combining masala, peppers, chutney and mayonnaise, with cream added as an optional ingredient.

Township chicken

Ingredients

• 60ml sunflower oil
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 5ml coarse salt
• 200ml finely chopped red and yellow bell peppers
• 1 large carrot, peeled and grated
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• 10ml crushed ginger
• 4 green chillies, halved lengthways
• Few sprigs thyme
• 30ml mixed masala
• 1 x 400g can chopped tomatoes
• 1 x chicken stock cube
• 250ml boiling water
• 60ml fruit chutney
• 125ml mayonnaise
• 65ml pouring cream, plus extra for drizzling
• 12-16 chicken pieces
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Fresh curry leaves, to garnish
• Mango atchar, to serve
• Mixed vegetable pickle, to serve

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C.
2. Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion and salt and sauté until lightly golden.
3. Stir in the peppers, carrot, garlic and ginger, and once the peppers and carrot soften, add the green chillies and thyme.
4. Spoon the masala into the side of the pot and mix well for 3-5 seconds to heat it up, then add the chopped tomatoes.
5. Turn down the heat and simmer for 6-8 minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down and the oil has separated.
6. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break down any lumps to form a thick paste. Dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water and add this to the pot.
7. Add the chutney, mayonnaise and cream, and mix. Pour the sauce into an ovenproof dish and add the chicken pieces, skin-side up. Spoon the sauce over the chicken to coat and season to taste with black pepper.
8. Bake for 45 minutes until golden and the juices run clear when tested with a skewer.
9. Drizzle with some cream, garnish with fresh curry leaves, and serve with some mango atchar and a mixed vegetable pickle alongside.

*This recipe is courtesy of penguinrandomhouse.

Township Chicken

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• Author: Yudhika Sujanani – Madame Curry

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• • 60 ml sunflower oil

• • 1 onion, finely chopped

• • 5 ml coarse salt

• • 200 ml finely chopped red and yellow bell peppers

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• • Mango atchar, to serve

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 180 °C.
2. Heat the sunflower oil in a heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the onion and salt and sauté until lightly golden.
3. Stir in the peppers, carrot, garlic and ginger, and once the peppers and carrot soften, add the green chillies and thyme.
4. Spoon the masala into the side of the pot and mix well for 3–5 seconds to heat it up, then add the chopped tomatoes.
5. Turn down the heat and simmer for 6–8 minutes, until the tomatoes have cooked down and the oil has separated.
6. Use the back of a wooden spoon to break down any lumps to form a thick paste. Dissolve the stock cube in the boiling water and add this to the pot.
7. Add the chutney, mayonnaise and cream, and mix. Pour the sauce into an ovenproof dish and add the chicken pieces, skin-side up. Spoon the sauce over the chicken to coat and season to taste with black pepper.
8. Bake for 45 minutes until golden and the juices run clear when tested with a skewer.
9. Drizzle with some cream, garnish with fresh curry leaves, and serve with some mango atchar and a mixed vegetable pickle alongside.