Jardaloo Salli Marghi

Delicious Parsi Dish prepared with Stewed Chicken with Apricots and garnished with Fried Potato Straws.

Jardaloo ie. Apricots ,Salli i.e Potatoes and Marghi i.e Chicken is a beautiful combination which is indeed mind-boggling.

This dish consists of chicken stewed with dried and soaked apricots. The sweet and scrumptious taste of the apricots combines fantastically with a sharp taste of red chilli powder and Worcestershire sauce.

This dish is influenced by the British. Apricots (Jardaloo): Dried apricots are used in combination with meats to make special dishes on festive occasions.

The dried apricots are soaked in water and then stewed along with chicken and aromatic spices

Salli: These are essential to Parsi cuisine. Potatoes are sliced thinly and shredded and then washed several times in water to get rid of the starch. They are then dipped into cold salted water for at least 45 minutes and are then drained , pat dried to remove excess of moisture and deep fried until crisp and crunchy.

Preparation Time: 20 minutes

Cooking Time: 45 to 50 minutes

Serves: 04

Ingredients and Quantity:

Chicken-01 kg.

Onion, medium sized-03 nos.

Ginger -1 ½ tsp.

Garlic -1 ½ tsp

Red chilli powder-¾ th tsp.

Turmeric powder-1/4^th tsp.

Cumin powder-¼ th tsp.

Cinnamon powder- 01 inch stick

Black Cardamom powder-02 nos.

Cloves powder-¼ th tsp

White Pepper powder-¼ ^th tsp.

Tomatoes, large / Tomato paste-02 nos. / ½ cup

Dried Apricots (Jardaloo) -175 gm.

Malt Vinegar-02 tbsp.

Worcestershire sauce- ½ tbsp.

Jaggery (grated) / Sugar-20 gm

Salt-To taste

Fresh cream-30 ml

Sunflower Oil-1 ½ tbsp.

For the Garnish:

Coriander leaves (Chopped)-02 sprigs

Garam masala powder-02 gm.

Potatoes, cut into straws and deep fried -01 large

Sunflower Oil to deep fry Potato straws-As required

METHOD

1. Clean, cut and wash chicken (Indian Curry Cut 1 X 8 pieces)
2. Boil Apricots in water till soft. (Remove the stone and mash the pulp completely), keep aside.
3. Peel ,wash and cut potatoes into allumettes (match stick sized strips). Keep in water to prevent enzymatic browning in potatoes.
4. Peel and chop onion.
5. Wash and chop tomatoes
6. Peel garlic. Scrape the ginger and wash. Prepare ginger and garlic paste.
7. Heat oil add chopped onion
8. Sauté till golden brown in colour add ginger and garlic paste. Cook till the raw aroma disappears.
9. Add the powdered masalas.
10. Add chopped tomatoes cook till the oil oozes out to the surface.
11. Add chicken pieces cook for some time. Add vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, grated jaggery / sugar, mashed apricot and salt. Cook for some time.
12. Add hot water (very less). Cook till chicken is tender and done.
13. Stir in the cream before serving.
14. Dry the shredded potatoes, heat the oil in a wok until it is very hot, and deep-fry the shredded potatoes until crisp and golden. Keep aside on an absorbent paper to remove excess of oil.
15. Sprinkle the potato straws with salt just before serving it, to prevent them from becoming soft.
16. When serving, sprinkle garam masala powder and chopped coriander leaves on the preparation, and top it with the potato straws (salli).

Chef Tips

1. Chicken pieces may be stir fried before being added to the gravy.
2. Instead of adding chopped onion and tomatoes, (in a little oil onion , ginger , garlic , powdered masalas and tomatoes can be cooked and pureed) and may be added.