Phall

Since we were going to sit down and watch NZ take on Canada in the Cricket World Cup live from India,  Jonny had suggested we make a curry to mark the occasion. He had originally suggested vindaloo, but mid-afternoon as I prepared to get the ingredients Wil suggested a different type of curry.  What he suggested was a curry I had not really heard of, it was almost like a myth and I wasn't sure he was for real. But he was. The curry that Wil suggested was Phall, known as the hottest style of curry you will find on a restaurant menu. He discovered this dish on the TV show Man vs Food and since it featured on that show you know it had to be hot!  

So I scoured the internet and found the below on indiacurry.com. After checking through several sites I decided this was a good base, with a few changes. We opted to use a mixture of habaneros, serranos and Thai bird's eye chilies, since they seemed a little closer to the chilies you'd find in India. I don't have any ghee and I haven't worked up the courage to make my own so we just used regular cooking oil, and then added a little butter as the onions cooked.  The recipe was nice and straightforward which allowed me time to prepare a side of cachoombar, and Jonny whipped up some raita with some plain yoghurt, green onion, salt & pepper. Then all that was needed was to heat up our naan and we were good to go!

This certainly was hot*: 1 out of 3 of diners experienced eye watering, 2 out of 3 experienced nose running, and all suffered of a tingly tongue and lips after eating this dish. If you want to have your own Man vs Food then this is your dish!

 

3 tbsp ghee

1 cup onion finely chopped

1 tbsp garlic, minced

4"x1" piece ginger root finely chopped

1/12 pounds skinless boneless chicken breast cut into 1" cubes

1 tbsp curry powder

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground fennel seeds

1 tbsp ground cayenne pepper

1/4 cup water

6 habanero peppers, chopped

6 serrano pepper chopped

2 cups tomatoes, finely chopped

Heat Ghee in a heavy bottom pan. Add onions. Fry till onions start to turn brown about 5 minutes. Add garlic and ginger. Fry for about one minute.  Add Chicken. Fry till chicken turn white then starts to turn brown. 

Add Curry powder, Garam Masala, Fennel powder, and Cayenne pepper. Fry for one minute.  Add water. Cook until the water is gone and you have a spicy paste, about 8 minutes.

Add habaneros, serranos and tomatoes. Keep frying till tomatoes are soft and pulverized. About 10 minutes. Serve with basmati rice, naan bread and a side of raita.

* Though nowhere near as hot as South America's hottest curry, but that is another story.