Chicken Phall

Chicken Phall is a traditional British Indian Restaurant (BIR) recipe for a very hot chicken curry based on Jalapeno, Habanero and fresh Naga Jalokia chillies. This is typically one of the hotter chillies on many Indian Restaurant menus. The full recipe is presented here and I hope you enjoy this classic Indian version of: Chicken Phall.

prep time

20 minutes

cook time

50 minutes

Total Time:

110 minutes

Additional Time:

(+10 minutes marinading)

Serves:

Rating:

Tags : Curry BIR Curries Chilli Recipes Sauce Recipes Chicken Recipes British Recipes

During my university years, from the mid 80s to the early 90s there was a legend of an insanely hot curry available from Indian restaurants that was not on the menu, but which you could specifically ask for. This was not vindaloo (which was on the menu). Only later did I come to know that this curry was the Phall. That was actually a decade later, in a restaurant on Rusholme’s Curry Mile --- where I actually got the recipe as well. My tolerance for chilli has increase dramatically over the years. Most of my Nigerian in-laws now think I am insane for asking for extra chilli powder with point and kill. So, though the Phall is a not dish I no longer think it’s that hot. But that’s just me. This remains one of the hottest commonly-available curries and I give some tips here for making it even hotter (but more aromatic) with Naga Jalokia, the Indian ghost chilli. This is the restaurant style of chicken phall and starts with the base curry sauce. Phall is also variously spelled as: fall, faal, phaal, phal or fal. For more really hot British Indian Restaurant (BIR) see this site’s page FabulousFusionFood’s Guide to the Hottest Curries.

Ingredients:

12 chicken wings
5 tbsp neutral oil (eg rapeseed, ghee, coconut, groundnut etc)
8 tbsp finely chopped onion
10 cloves garlic, sliced into thin slivers
2 red jalepeño chillies, cut into thin slices
1 habanero chilli, finely chopped
2 tbsp garlic and ginger paste
4 tsp Kashmiri chilli powder
1 tbsp dried ghost pepper powder
2 tsp mixed powder
2 tsp tandoori masala
2 tbsp hot pepper sauce (as hot as you can stand)
15 tbsp tomato puree
500ml (2 cups) base curry sauce or Indian restaurant curry base
1 tsp dried fenugreek leaves (kasoori methi)
Salt to taste
Juice of 1 lime

Method:

Rub 1 tbsp of the oil and 1 tsp of the ghost pepper powder into the chicken wings then set aside to marinate for 10 minutes (or longer if you like). Arrange the chicken wings on a greased baking tray then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 200C (400F) and roast for 40 minutes, or until nicely browned and cooked through. Remove from the oven and set aside

Once the wings are cooked, it's time to prepare that chicken phall. Heat the remaining oil in a pan over high heat and when visibly hot, stir in the chopped onion, frying it for about 3 minutes or until soft and translucent. Add the garlic slivers and sliced chilli, stir to combine and fry for a further 30 seconds. Scatter over the ground spices, stir to combine and fry for about 30 seconds before adding the tomato puree mixed with the chilli sauce.

Bring the mixture to a simmer and then stir in about 1/3 of the base sauce. Bring simmer, then add another third of the base sauce, only stirring if the sauce is obviously sticking to the side of the pan.

Add the cooked chicken wings and stir them to coat in the sauce. Now add the remaining base sauce. As the curry comes back to a simmer, add the dried fenugreek leaves and lime juice then season to taste with salt.

Turn into a serving dish and garnish with some more fresh chillies if desired.

Serve the chicken phall with chapatis or parathas.

As well as chicken you can make this with lamb, goat, beef and it’s excellent with guinea fowl.

Find more BIR recipes on the FabulousFusionFood British Indian Restaurant (BIR) recipes page.