Kuwab Fowl
Put 4 cloves, 1 drachm of pounded ginger, 1 drachm of cayenne, and half an ounce of coriander-seed in a mortar. Pound these until quite smooth, and mix with them .3 small onions, finely minced. Divide a small chicken into neat joints; rub them inside and out with the mixture, and put them into a frying-pan, with 1/4 of a pound of sweet butter. Turn them about constantly, and when they are brightly browned all over, and sufficiently cooked, squeeze over them the strained juice of 1 lemon, and serve as hot as possible. Time to cook, half an hour. Sufficient for two or three persons.
An Anglo-Indian dry-fried chicken masala, weighed out in apothecaries' units. The spice paste is the whole dish, so get the quantities right and keep the butter from burning.
- DrachmAn apothecaries' drachm is 1/8 of an apothecaries' ounce, 60 grains, about 3.9 g. That is roughly two teaspoons of ground ginger and about the same of cayenne. (Note that the smaller avoirdupois dram, 1/16 oz or about 1.8 g, was also in use, so the intended dose may be half this.)
- Half an ounce of corianderAbout 14 g, or a generous two to three tablespoons of whole seed. Toast the seed dry in the pan for a minute before pounding; untoasted coriander in this quantity tastes raw and soapy.
- Heat levelA full drachm of cayenne on one small chicken is assertive. Scale it down if your cayenne is fresh and fierce.
- Onions in the pasteThree small onions minced into a wet mortar paste will steam rather than fry. Squeeze the minced onion in a cloth or fry it separately to a light brown before combining, or the coating stays pallid.
- The butterA quarter pound is 115 g, and whole butter will blacken well before the chicken is done. Clarify it first, or use half butter and half a neutral oil, and hold the pan at a steady medium.
- Half an hourReasonable for small bone-in joints turned constantly, but judge by temperature rather than the clock: 165F / 74C at the thickest part of the thigh. Breast pieces will finish several minutes sooner and can come out first.
- ClovesFour whole cloves pounded into the mix is correct, not a misprint. Whole cloves left intact would be unpleasant to bite; make sure they are fully broken down in the mortar.
- ServingTwo to three as written, as a main course with rice or flatbread. The lemon goes on at the very end, off the heat, so its perfume survives.