(Photo from my Instagram)

When you investigate into the food of India, it’s plain to see that there is no stereotypical Indian food, as it varies from region to region. For example, the cuisine in Kerala is different to that of Gujarati. What is grown in the area has a big influence on cuisine, but religion also plays a big part in it also!

In Gujarati, food culture is dominated by the main religion: Jainism. Jainism is a religion that regards all life as so sacred that every dish is vegetarian, and is made without anything that grows below in the ground, such as garlic and onion. Staple foods in Gujarati consist of Rice, buttermilk and pickles. For the people in Gujarati, they get the majority of their carbohydrate, daily intake from rice, whereas those who live in Britain get theirs from bread, potatoes and the like.

Did you know that Kerala is the home of pepper, turmeric and cardamom? Due to large spice ports on the Arabian Sea, Arab,Jewish and oriental traders travel from all over India to Kerala, and have done for hundreds of years.

Chicken Jalfrezi

Did you know: ‘Jal’ means pungently spicy and ‘frezi’ means ‘stir fry’

Origin

Jalfrezi is a popular type of Indian cuisine that involves frying marinated chunks of meat, fish or vegetables in oil and spices to produce a dry, thick sauce.

In South Asia, chicken jalfrezi is considered an Indian Chinese, as it has a mix of Chinese and Indian cooking techniques used in its preparation.

Jalfrezi was created because people didn’t want to waste leftover food from the meal the previous day. It’s likely it was created by Muslims as this would have deeply displeased the Hindus.

Here’s what you’ll need it:

• 1 large bottled red pepper
• 2 onions, 1 chopped the other sliced
• 30grams root ginger chopped
• 230grams chopped tomatoes
• 700grams diced chicken, {Or vegetables}
• Fresh or dried coriander
• 4 large Garlic cloves
• 1 red pepper sliced
• 1 yellow pepper sliced
• 2tablespoon Ga ram masala
• 2 tbsp Tomato Puree.
• 1 chicken stock cube

How to make it:

1. Put bottled red pepper, chopped onion, garlic, and ginger in a food processor and blend until it’s smooth.
2. Spray a large frying pan; add the sliced onions and peppers fry for 5 minutes.
3. Add the pepper puree along with spices, spices, chopped tomatoes, stock cube and 350ml of water; simmer for 10 minutes.
4. Add the chunks or meat or vegetables and simmer for a further 10 minutes.
5. Stir through chopped coriander, fresh or dried, and taste to adjust the seasoning if needed.
6. Plate up and enjoy!

I hope you enjoy giving this recipe a try as it’s super tasty and quick to make. Comment down below what yummy food you’d like to see on here and I’ll see what I can do!

(I try to make sure my information is correct but I might occasionally get something wrong so please forgive me!)