East African Chicken Curry

Top the chicken curry with some chunky sambals containing tomato, onions & coriander and you have a taste sensation !

Following on from the popular “Dad’s Chicken Curry” recipe which I posted a couple of months ago (the recipe can be found here), here is my own East African inspired chicken curry recipe which I have developed over the years by taking a little bit of one recipe and a little of another until I have come up with a great tasting curry !

When my husband and I were running safari camps in Tanzania, I was fortunate enough to work with many great East African chefs from both the inland and coastal parts of Tanzania, Zanzibar and Kenya. As a result I picked up different styles and ideas from each of them … and also learnt to make the most of local ingredients (all of which this recipe contains). So here is just one of the curry recipes I came up with, thanks to all the great inspiring chefs I had the pleasure to meet and learn from -:


East African Chicken Curry

2 – 3 tbsp Oil
4 red Onions, chopped
2 ½ tbsps Garlic, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh Ginger, finely grated
2 heaped tbsp medium Curry powder
1 heaped tbsp Cumin powder
1 heaped tbsp Garam Masala powder
1 heaped tbsp Coriander powder
1 tsp Cinnamon powder
½ tsp Chilli powder
1 tbsp Salt
3 tbsp Tomato Paste/Puree
1,2 kg’s raw Chicken meat, cubed
1 tin (400gm) peeled Tomatoes, un drained
2 tbsp Lime juice
½ cup Water
3 Potatoes, cubed and par boiled
3 heaped tbsp fresh Coriander, chopped

Fry the onions in the oil until they start to turn golden. Then add the garlic & ginger and continue to cook – stir frequently to prevent sticking. Then add the curry, cumin, garam masala, coriander, cinnamon and chilli powders and stir well to blend. Add the salt and tomato paste and stir until a thick paste has formed (around 2 minutes). If you need to, you can add a little of the water at this stage to prevent sticking. Now add the cubed chicken meat and stir well so that it is coated by the curry paste. Add the tomatoes, stir, and then add the lime juice, water and par boiled potato cubes. Leave to simmer for about 25 minutes and then add the fresh Coriander. Cook for a further 5 minutes before serving over rice with some hot buttered garlic nan bread and chunky sambals* on the side – aahhhh ….. a little taste of East African curry heaven !

As with most curries, this always tastes better if you eat it a day or two after making it, as it allows time for the flavours to develop and intensify.

*For my sambals I used chopped red onions, tomatoes and coriander

My Magical Vegetable Storage Cupboard !

My vegetable storage cupboard which is ... well ... more than just a mere storage cupboard !

This is my vegetable storage cupboard (which I mentioned in a recent post on how I buy and store my vegetables which you can read here). It came with the house, so I’m not sure who built it, but it has been well made out of a solid, untreated wood. It stands in the corner of my pantry (or ‘food store room’ as we call it here) but used to stand in the kitchen. I moved it because the pantry is cooler, darker and the fruit and vegetables last better in it than they did in the kitchen.

The sides are covered with mosquito gauze which keeps insects and flies out. I usually store my potatoes, sweet potatoes and onions on the top shelf and my ginger, garlic, lemons, limes, tomatoes and some fruit on the second shelf and then things like pumpkins and melons below. There is no reason for this other than the fact that my 3 year old loves to open the cupboard and remove items to throw around, chew and play with … and by storing the heavy melons etc on the lower shelves (they’re mostly too heavy for her to pick up) the smaller items like potatoes etc remain “safe”. (Oooooh … do I sound like a terrible mother or what ?!)

She actually loves to get onto the bottom shelf of the cupboard and close the door behind her (“I’m hiding Mummy, and you’ll NEVER find me !”) – this drives Dibble crazy and he thinks it’s a great ‘game’ to bark at her in there. Once she even locked poor Tessa in the bottom shelf (for all of 10 minutes) until I came to rescue her, poor cat !

My husband likes to store slightly wet biltong (a dried meat snack) on the top shelf until it dries out completely (no flies can get to it, so it’s the perfect place) and Justin often leaves a large pot of freshly cooked rice for the dog’s food on a middle shelf until it has cooled enough to put in the fridge.

We keep a crate of soda’s on the top of the cupboard (out of reach of my daughter, once again) as the glass bottles are quite breakable. It’s also a great place to hide things I don’t want her to have. Like the annoying whistle she was blowing on non stop all day last week (“Well YOU bought it for her !” my husband was quick to point out to me when I complained about it). As soon as she forgot about it I hid it on top of the cupboard. Then later, when she asked me where it was I said “Oh no, have you lost it ? How annoying, I wonder where it could be ?” with the most innocent voice I could muster.

So you see, this is not merely a boring old “Vegetable Storage Cupboard” but rather a “Fruit & Vegetable storage/biltong drier/toddler hideout/cat cage/rice cooler/whistle hiding cupboard”. I recommend that you get one for yourself, it’ll provide you with hours of fun and entertainment – who needs TV, eh ? (Or … maybe … just maybe …. I should get off the farm more often ?!)

Chocolate Shortbread Cookies Recipe

These Chocolate Shortbread Cookies can also be sandwiched together with sweetened cream & served with berries on the side as an alternative - and delicious - dessert !

As you can tell by now, I have more of a sweet tooth than a savoury one and I love to bake more than I love to cook. If I could bake every day of my life, I would be a happy girl ;)

So, here’s my favourite chocolate shortbread cookie recipe to brighten up your Monday …. now pour yourself a nice cuppa tea and … enjoy !


Chocolate Shortbread Cookies Recipe

225 gm salted Butter
½ cup Icing Sugar
2 cups Flour
4 tbsp Cocoa Powder
1 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Vanilla Essence (or equivalent amount of Vanilla Extract)
4 tbsp Milk

Cream the butter & icing sugar together and then add the rest of the ingredients. Blend well and lightly knead into a dough. Roll out very thinly on a floured surface. Cut into rounds and prick each round a few times with a fork before baking. Bake on a greased baking sheet at 190’C/375’F/Gas Mark 5 for 20 minutes.

You can sprinkle some caster sugar over the cookies as soon as they come out of the oven if you like.

I have also pressed the cookie dough into a greased baking tray and cut it in to squares once baked, and on other occasions have rolled the dough into balls and pressed them with a fork to flatten slightly before baking.