‘Found’ chicken and vegetable curry

Costoluto Genovese tomatoes, anyone? A pair of these was in my basket when I left Babylonstoren – the Franschhoek valley farm – on Thursday after a day of wandering around their magnificent garden, along with sundry other fruit and vegetables.

The “found” items that fell into my lap at Babylonstoren last Thursday – it’s a thing that happens there, where all sorts of fruit and vegetables are placed here and there for visitors to help themselves to – were pretty ordinary things. Like the two carrots that were as fresh as a new dawn. Apart from those tomatoes.

There was a pak choi plant, tempting but destined for another dish, not this curry. A few radishes. And those two exquisite yellow heirloom tomatoes. Yellow, but on their way to orange, ultimately red. Curvaceous, pleated, full of mysterious nooks, or were they crannies? There was a solitary clementine as well, but that was devoured as a snack shortly before writing this.

The tomatoes would find their way into a curry, as would those superb carrots. Never was a carrot finer or sweeter.

Their website informed me that they were Costoluto Genovese tomatoes of Italian origin. It was too late to change my plans and use them in a pasta sauce or on a pizza, as they had already gone into this curry the previous evening.

But that’s no problem, as they were sweet and very juicy, consequently perfect for a curry. And it was nice to use fresh tomatoes in a curry for a change; I usually use a can of chopped Italian tomatoes (yes, Italian, they tend to be sweeter than some canned options).

For the rest, I employed my usual array of spices that I keep in little jars in a cupboard out of the light, to lengthen their shelf life. The only fresh spices I used were garlic, ginger and turmeric – that little packet of fresh turmeric root I bought a couple of weeks ago is still rewarding me. And it gave this chicken curry a superb pop of flavour. You have to find, and use, fresh turmeric if you haven’t yet.

You’re not expected to trek to Babylonstoren to try to source Costoluto Genovese tomatoes, so just use what you have, or, yes, a can of chopped, peeled tomatoes.

Tony’s ‘found’ chicken and vegetable curry

Ingredients

6 to 8 chicken thighs and drumsticks

1 large onion, peeled and sliced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

4cm piece of fresh turmeric, peeled and sliced

3cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp fennel seeds

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp yellow mustard seeds

6 cardamom pods

1 cinnamon quill

1 star anise

Chopped fresh Costoluto Genovese heirloom tomatoes OR a can of chopped, peeled tomatoes

2 large carrots, peeled and grated or diced

1 or 2 heaped Tbsp masala

500ml cold water

Salt to taste

Chopped coriander, to garnish

Method

Pour a splash of cooking oil into a heavy pot and add all the hard spices – the seeds, cinnamon quill and star anise. Put the pot on a low heat and leave it until you hear the seeds begin to pop.

Add the sliced onion, turn up the heat slightly, and simmer, stirring, for 3 or 4 minutes.

Add the garlic, ginger and fresh turmeric; stir and simmer, stirring now and then, for 3 minutes more.

Add the chopped tomatoes (if you’re actually using Costoluto Genovese tomatoes, chop them up first).

Add carrots, season with salt but no pepper, and stir.

Add 500ml cold water.

Add 1 or 2 heaped Tbsp masala (I used a Durban-curry style, as usual), and stir.

Immerse the chicken thighs and drumsticks, making sure they’re covered in the curry sauce.

Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover lightly and leave to simmer for about 20 minutes while the chicken cooks and tenderises. Remove the lid and simmer for another 25 minutes for the liquid to cook away and thicken a little.

Serve with rice and chopped coriander. DM

Tony Jackman is twice winner of the Galliova Food Writer of the Year award.

Follow Tony Jackman on Instagram @tony_jackman_cooks.