 Move Over Chicken Tikka Masala, here comes the Chasni!
Scotland may be the home of the battered Mars bar and the deep fried pizza but now there’s another dish on the block. The Chasni, Chicken Chasni, chesni or chesney is known to be outselling the much loved Chicken Tikka Masala ten fold according to Sanjay Majhu the owner of the Harlequin chain of Indian restaurants in Glasgow.
Apparently it doesn’t taste like an Indian curry. The taste is sweet and sour most probably due to the fact that the two main ingredients are mango chutney and tomato ketchup. However, India may already lay claim to this kind of curry as they have concocted their own hybrid in so called Chinese restaurants up and down major Indian cities. The fusion is known as ‘Chinjabi’ cuisine. But let’s hear it for Scotland’s Chasni which may perhaps be the first of its kind in the UK.
If you can’t get down to Glasgow, do have a go at making one at home. My recipe is below which uses the key ingredients for a Chicken Chasni. I’ll let you decide whether you think the CTM will always be flavour of the month or whether the Chasni is just a flash in the pan Chicken Chasni Serves 2 Ingredients:
3 tbsp sunflower oil
2 onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
5cm/2 in piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp chilli powder
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 125g each, cut into bite-sized pieces
100g mango chutney
100g tomato sauce or ketchup
5-6 fresh mint leaves, washed and chopped
1 tsp lemon juice | | Chicken Chasni (Front) and Chicken tikka Masala (Behind)
 Picture by Werner Van Peppen | | | |
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| Preparation:
Heat the oil in a saucepan or wok over a medium heat. Add the onions, garlic and ginger and fry, stirring frequently, for 5-7 minutes until they are light brown.
Tip in the coriander, turmeric and chilli powder and stir around for one minute. Stir in the chicken pieces and continue frying, stirring for 5 minutes until the chicken changes colour. Add the mango chutney and tomato sauce and cook for 2 minutes. Tip in 200ml of just boiled water and simmer for a further 3-5 minutes until the chicken is cooked. Stir in the mint leaves and lemon juice and serve with plain basmati rice. |
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Store ground spices away from sunlight in a cool dark place for upto six months. After that, they begin to lose their potency and flavour. 
Tapioca is an important product of the American plant cassava, but the main producers are now in Asia and Africa. Tapioca is usually used for making milk puddings in the West, but in South India it is found in various savoury preparations, such as these spicy patties of tapioca pearls and potato.