Stuffed Chickens in a Savory Curry Sauce | A Delicious Outydse Boerekos Winning Recipe from South Africa

Stuffed Chickens in a Curry Sauce: 

A special dish for a special occasion. The recipe calls for two whole chickens stuffed with a curry and rice filling and cooked in a savory curry sauce. If you cook the chickens the day before - their flavors will have time to intermingle and develop. And the result will be spectacular when reheated the following day.

The recipe comes from Mrs. Kleynhans of Boksburg, South Africa, who donated it to the Huisgenoot Magazine, which published it in Winning Recipes.

Notes: 

The below sauce and rice stuffing are enough for 1 whole large chicken. If you are cooking 2 chickens, double up on the below ingredients. 

Any extra rice may be slipped in beneath the breast skin using a tablespoon to form a pocket for your stuffing to keep the breasts moist. 

For the GMO-gluten-preservative-free conscious, I have included a recipe below for Rajah Curry Powder as a substitute, and you may replace your flour with 60 ml of ground raw rice, which you just grind in your coffee grinder. 

For diabetics, this dish is still lovely without the stock cube, chutney, and sugar. 
 
I've always preferred this dish with peach chutney, as it complements the dish far better than the apricot chutney. And if you find it - stock up.

You may also replace the salt with 1 - 2 chicken stock cubes added to taste for more flavor.  

If adding the optional garlic and ginger - crushing them with a light sprinkling of salt prevents slippage.

This dish is best baked in the oven, as due to its sugar, it has a tendency to burn.

Ingredients: 
2 chickens, about 1.5 kg each 

Curry Sauce: 
90 g (100ml) butter or margarine 
2 small onions, chopped 
25 g (50 ml) Rajah medium curry powder, or see the recipe below
30 ml Cake flour or 60 ml Rice flour - grind raw in a coffee grinder 
1 Liter Chicken Stock - with 1 chicken stock cube or to taste 
30 ml soft brown sugar 
30 ml peach chutney (or apricot chutney as a 2nd choice) 
5 ml salt 
Juice of 1/2 a lemon  

Rice Stuffing:  
200 g (250ml) rice 
50 g (60ml) butter or margarine 
2 small onions, finely chopped
2 - 3 cloves of fresh garlic, crushed - optional 
8 g (7.5 ml) of fresh ginger, crushed - optional 
20 ml medium curry powder 
5 ml salt 

Method - Curry Sauce: 

1. Wash the chickens in cold water and dry them with absorbent paper. 
2. Melt the butter or margarine for the curry sauce in a medium-sized saucepan. 
3. Sauté the onions with garlic and ginger if adding - lightly for 5 minutes. 
4. Stir in the curry powder and sauté for another 5 minutes. 
5. Stir in the cake four, and then gradually add the chicken stock. 
6. Bring the mixture to a boil, adding the brown sugar, chutney, salt, and lemon juice. 
7. Cover the saucepan and simmer the sauce gently on low heat for half an hour. 

Method - Rice Stuffing: 

1. Rapidly boil the rice for the stuffing for 5 minutes, then drain. 
2. Melt the butter or margarine in a small pan, add the onions, and sauté them lightly until soft. Stir in the curry powder, then the rice. Season the stuffing with salt and stir well. 
3. Spoon the stuffing into the body and neck cavities of the chickens and sew up the openings or secure them with toothpicks - I never do this but handle it with care. Do not stuff the chickens too tightly - the rice needs room to expand. 
4. Place the chicken breast side facing up in a large casserole dish with a lid. And you may bake it without covering it at 160 C. Strain the curry sauce over the chicken.
5. Bake the chickens at 16 C (325F) for 3 - 4 hours, turning the chickens halfway through, breast sides facing down so the cooking juices can run into the breast - while basting the chickens occasionally with the curry sauce in the dish. Bake until done.

This recipe goes well with baked sweet pumpkin and pumpkin bread Pudding. It also goes well with buttered or curried sweet and sour green beans. I have translated the recipe below into English - it is absolutely divine! And works as both a side vegetable and a dessert.

Cinnamon Pumpkin Bread

Ingredients:

600 g pumpkin

6 slices of white bread

60 g butter

60 g sugar

25 ml cinnamon powder

50 g extra butter

Method:
Peel and slice your pumpkin into thin slices and set aside.
Using 60 g of butter, butter your bread on both sides.
Mix together your sugar and cinnamon.
Butter your casserole dish, a slow cooker, or an electric wok.
Place in a layer of your bread and sprinkle over your cinnamon-sugar mixture.
Repeat until all your bread and pumpkin are used up.
Place dabs with extra butter on top and bake at 160 C for about 30 minutes or until the pumpkin is cooked.

 

Old Cape Sweet Pumpkin above is another well-loved favorite!

Homemade Rajah Curry Powder

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons dry coriander seeds
1 + 1/2 a tablespoon dry cumin seeds
1 tablespoon turmeric powder
10ml cayenne pepper or 4 Kashmiri dried whole chilies
1/2 a teaspoon of ginger powder - omit if adding ginger as above 
10 - 12 black peppercorns

Method:
Grind all dry ingredients in your coffee grinder
Empty into a small ziplock spice bag and store in the freezer.

Enjoy!

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