History

Cape Malay cooking took shape in the kitchens of people brought to the Cape in bondage from the Indonesian archipelago, Bengal, Madagascar and the East African coast from 1658. Their cooks folded Southeast Asian whole spices into Dutch stewing, and the result runs mild and slightly sweet: turmeric for colour, cinnamon and cardamom for perfume, cloves and allspice for depth, apricot or tomato for body. Bo-Kaap, where freed Muslim families settled from the 1830s around the Auwal Mosque, is still where the city buys its masala by the scoop and where the curry is cooked closest to the old form.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Milk

Make it at home

Yield Serves 4Hands-on 25 minTotal 1 hr 10 minDifficulty Easy

Ingredients

  • 1kg chicken thighs on the bone, skin removed
  • 2 onions, finely sliced
  • 4 garlic cloves and 3cm ginger, grated to a paste
  • 1 cinnamon stick, 4 cardamom pods, 4 whole cloves, 2 allspice berries, 2 bay leaves
  • 2 tbsp mild Cape masala or curry powder, 1 tsp turmeric
  • 3 tomatoes, grated, or 200g tinned chopped tomato
  • 2 tbsp apricot jam
  • 3 medium potatoes, quartered
  • 300ml water or chicken stock
  • 2 tbsp sunflower oil, salt
  • Fresh coriander to finish

Method

  1. Heat the oil in a heavy pot and fry the whole spices and bay leaves for 30 seconds until they smell warm.
  2. Add the onions and cook over medium heat for 12 minutes until soft and golden, then stir in the garlic and ginger paste for 1 minute.
  3. Add the masala and turmeric, cook 1 minute, then the grated tomato and apricot jam. Cook 5 minutes until the oil separates at the edges.
  4. Turn the chicken through the masala to coat, add the water and 1.5 tsp salt, cover and simmer 25 minutes.
  5. Add the potatoes, cover and simmer another 20 minutes until they are soft enough to break with a spoon and the sauce has thickened.
  6. Rest off the heat for 10 minutes, then scatter coriander over and serve with turmeric rice and a carrot or onion sambal.

Tip from the editors. Grate the tomato on a box grater and discard the skin: it gives body without the sharpness that tinned tomato brings to a mild curry.

Where to eat cape malay chicken curry

Cape Malay chicken curry in Cape Town

Biesmiellah ★ 4.2

$$ South AfricanBo Kaap

Biesmiellah serves Cape Malay curry with yellow rice on the corner of Wale and Pentz Street in Bo-Kaap, Cape Town, at about R100 to R300 a head.

TryCape Malay chicken curry with yellow rice

TipOrder a side of daltjie and samoosa to share; the starters are a cheap way to taste more of the menu.

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