Chicken with Apricots
The Parsi community of India is of Persian descent. When the Parsis fled Iran in the tenth century, they settled on India’s west coast, where they managed to preserve not only their religious traditions—they are Zoroastrians—but many of their culinary traditions as well. This delicately sweet-and-sour dish of chicken cooked with dried apricots is part of that tradition. I have a Parsi friend who puts in a healthy glug of Madeira toward the end of the cooking. Parsis picked up many customs not only from their Gujarati neighbors but also from their neighbors and masters in nineteenth-century Bombay, the British. This dish is generally served with a mountain of very fine, crisp potato straws—you can just buy a large packet of them—but may also be served with rice.
Recipe information
Yield
serves 4
Ingredients
Preparation
Step 1
Sprinkle the chicken on all sides with 1/2 teaspoon salt and very generous amounts of black pepper. Pat in and set aside.
Step 2
Put the apricots in a small pan with 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Lower heat and gently simmer for about 15 minutes or until apricots have softened but are firm enough to take another 5 minutes of cooking later. Leave in the cooking liquid.
Step 3
Pour the oil into a large frying pan or sauté pan and set over medium-high heat. When hot, scatter in the cinnamon sticks and cumin. Ten seconds later, put in half of the chicken pieces and brown them on both sides. Remove to a bowl. Put the remaining chicken pieces in the frying pan and brown them the same way, then remove to the bowl. Add the onions to the oil in the pan. Stir and fry them until they turn brown at the edges. Add the ginger and stir for a few seconds. Add the tomato paste and stir once. Now return the chicken and all accumulated juices to the pan, along with 1 1/2 cups water and 1 teaspoon salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and cook gently for 15 minutes, turning the chicken once during this period. Remove cover and add the sugar, vinegar, apricots and their cooking liquid, garam masala, and cayenne. Stir gently and cook on high heat until the sauce is a bit syrupy, about 5 minutes.
