Chicken Pathia

What is Pathia? Pathia is an ancient Indian Parsi form of curry predominantly available in the curry house of the United Kingdom. It is hot, sweet and sour with use of chillies and tamarind. It is based on a blend of tamarind and lime, with jaggery to help the balance and chillies for heat.

Fast forward hundreds of years and chicken pathia arrived on the UK's shore, blowing curry lovers away. It is thought that this fantastic hot sweet and sour curry was brought to the UK by Bangladeshi chefs, keen to create a rival for the sweet and sour dishes so popular in Chinese restaurants all over the country.

Unlike korma and tikka massala, which are very creamy, heavy and calorific curries, pathia-a Parsi dish which us a fusion between Persian (Iranian) and Gurarat cuisines-has a tomato base and is sweet, sour and spicy in flavour.

A lip-smacking tangy curry with plenty of heat. The tanginess comes from the tamarind, lemon juice and tomato, but this is balanced out with a little sweetness too-almost like a curry version of sweet and sour but with a lusciously tick sauce.

You can make it as hot as you like, or you can go milder if you prefer. I love the tang of this curry, with a little bit of sweetness coming from the addition of a little sugar.

Ingredients:

• 1 large onion, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, peeled
• 2 tsp minced ginger
• 3 tbsp vegetable oil, you can use ghee if you prefer
• 3 chicken breast, about 600g, cut into bitesize chunks
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp medium curry powder
• ½ tsp hot chilli powder
• 1 tsp paprika
• ¼ tsp ground fenugreek
• ½ tsp tamarind paste
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tbsp sugar
• ¾ tsp salt
• 400ml passata
• 2 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 red chillies, roughly chopped
• ¼ cup chicken stock

Method:

Add the onion, garlic and ginger to a mini food processor or a hand blender and blend to a paste.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a high eat. Add the onion mixture and fry for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until starting to brown at the edges.

Add the chicken and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, until sealed.

Turn the heat down to medium and add the cinnamon, curry powder, chilli powder, paprika, ground fenugreek and tamarind paste. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add in the lemon juice, sugar, salt, passata, tomato puree, chopped chillies and chicken stock. Bring to the boil, them simmer for 10 minutes or until the sauce consistency reach the thickness that you like.

Serve with fresh coriander, a slice of lemon and boiled rice.