How to make Hariali Chicken like Chef Ali Hussain

Executive Chef and Director Ali Hussain

Ali's popular restaurant Cafe Bangla in East Boldon, Tyne & Wear

My first taste of Chef Ali Hussain’s Hariali Chicken was at the Curry Life British Fusion Festival in Dhaka in 2009. It was one of his award-winning dishes which had earned him a place at the festival and was certainly memorable – simple yet full of fresh and zingy flavours. 

Executive chef and director Ali has been busy creating many mouth-watering dishes ever since 2003 when his popular Café Bangla restaurant opened in East Boldon on Tyneside. He’s renowned for his inspired fusion dishes but Chicken Hariali is still one of his great signature recipes, guaranteed to go down well with customers. Here, chef Ali Hussain shares his famous recipe with us:

 Ali Hussain’s Chicken Hariali

Ingredients

Hariali Paste –

Fresh coriander

Fresh mint

Green pepper

Garlic ginger paste

Green chilli

Blend together to make marinade.

For Hariali Chicken -

4-5 tbsp chopped spinach

Half a tsp of sugar

Fresh coriander

2 heaped tsp garlic paste

Water

Approx 2tbsp cream

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt to taste

To garnish

Carrots

Sliced cucumbers

Curled beetroot

Method

Marinate the chicken fillets in the Hariali paste overnight in the fridge.

Cook marinated chicken in tandoor for about 10 minutes (for those cooking at home use ordinary oven turned to highest temperature).

Add 1tbsp olive oil to pan.

Turn gas on low so it doesn’t burn.            

Add 2 heaped tsp garlic paste and stir.

Add 3-4 tbsp finely chopped onion.

Cook for two minutes until onions brown.

Add some salt to taste and stir.

Add chopped Hariali Chicken and stir

Add a little water and cook for five minutes.

Add around 4-5tbsp Hariali Paste and stir.

Add more water if necessary.

Add 1tsp sugar.

Add chopped spinach and stir.

Cook for a further minute.

Finally add some cream and generous sprinkle of fresh coriander.

Let it cook for three minutes partly covered.

Serve in a nice bowl. Decorate with cucumber, carrots, curled beetroot and tomato rolls (to see how to make the tomato rose check out Ali’s video on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jpTpqTlZdo )

Sprinkle with coriander. Serve with warm naan bread.

Cafe Bangla, 2 Station Road, East Boldon, Tyne and Wear NE36 0LD

Chef Ali showcasing  his dishes at the festival in Dhaka

Ali at the British Fusion Festival with Zoe & Peter Renfrew of Curry Life and Chef Abul Monsur of  Taj Cuisine

Taste of Britain Curry Festival Takes Off!

Last night the Taste of Britain Festival took off in spectacular fashion as diners of Dhaka descended on the Dhaka Sheraton Hotel for a sample of the food that has captured the psyche and culture of 
the British public over the past 50 years.

Guests heard from guest speakers Ghulam Mohammed Quader, Honorable Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism, Special Guest Safique Alam Mehdi, Secretary Minister of Civil Aviation and Tourism and HE Nick Lowe Acting British High Commissioner in Bangladesh who joined festival organisers Syed Belal Ahmed and Nahas Pasha of Curry Life Magazine and Ahmad Bukhari Hamzar, General Manager of Dhaka Sheraton Hotel.

Virtues of the anglicised dish were extolled by speakers as guests heard that curry is not only responsible for contributing 4.2 billion to the British economy it also unites nations and possesses beneficial attributes hitherto unrecognised by the average Brit out on the town for an ‘Indian’.  “It would seem that curry has ingredients to spice up health, said Gen Manager. Madrasses and Vindaloos appealed to the taste of the more hot blooded males in the UK whereas women preferred the creamier kormas. Curry had not only become hugely profitable and popular, it had also helped to “cement the relationship between the two great countries of Bangladesh and Great Britain,” said Mr Hamzar.

Belal Ahmed, Festival Director described how Curry Life Magazine was promoting Bangladeshi cuisine and restaurants up and down the country, in the Middle East, India and Europe. “Different cultures, food and faiths have settled in Britain and made an exciting mix of multiculturalism,” he said, “We want to celebrate the success of the curry industry with the people of Bangladesh.”

For HE Nick Lowe, fresh to Bangladesh from the curry capital of Britain in Tower Hamlets, the evening brought on a touch of nostalgia for the vibrant curry houses of Brick Lane. “We couldn’t feel more at home than we do now,” he said. The cultural values – . He talked of the unique input of

The Chief Guest and minister for Civil Aviation and tourism – “somehow or other curry has won the hearts and the minds of the British people,” he said. “We must be proud of that and the fact that leadership has been given by the Bangladeshi community. Curry has become an asset for our culture because it brings investment to Bangladesh in hotels, motels, restaurant and tourism.”

Chefs Pintu Rozario, Amitaba Pal from Bangladesh and India joined the British Fusion chefs Partha Mittra, Shahidur Rahman and Abul Monsur on the stage before guests enjoyed a banquet of famous British/Bangladeshi dishes with kormas, baltis and vindaloos in abundance. But where was the chicken tikka masala? – anyone wanting  to taste the jewel in the crown of this peculiarly British incarnation of Bangladeshi  cuisine will have to wait until tonight when the famous dish will be served up in abundance in the Vithika restaurant .  Long live curry!