Fragrant Chicken Curry

Before we start, I must admit that this is a re-blog of an earlier post of mine which has now been removed. I shall be doing this with a number of my earlier recipes over time as, since the date of their original posting, they have been significantly improved. This curry received the “special treatment” because it is such a fantastic recipe which I have, in the past few months, perfected. Indeed, I now genuinely understand what it takes to make a simply fantastic curry. First of all, don’t hold back on flavour – pack it full, or it shall only disappoint. Secondly, cook it for a significant length of time – this helps the flavour of the spices really develop. Thirdly, cook each type of meat in a different way – chicken needs to be added a mere 10-15 minutes before serving, while beef or lamb needs to be cooked from the start and for a long time.

This curry is simply delicious and makes use of very many fragrant ingredients, giving it a very light and healthy taste while also providing it with a jolly good punch. My apologies if a couple of the pictures are a little dodgy – it had become rather dark by the time it came to eat the curry, it shows a little. This is the only problem with autumn and winter, the days begin to draw in and when one gets round to eating, and taking photos, it is a little dark. Things may get a little tricky in the coming months.

Fragrant Chicken Curry

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 3 breasts of chicken, chopped into large chunks

• 2 onions, finely chopped

• 2 peppers, finely sliced

• 5 vine tomatoes, cut into eighths

• 500ml water

• Juice of 1 lime

• Bunch of fresh coriander

• 3 cloves of garlic, mashed

• 1 fresh chilli

• A good knob of fresh ginger

• 1 heaped tsp ground cumin

• 1 level tsp cinnamon

• ½ tsp ground turmeric

• 1 tbsp crème fraîche, plus extra to serve

• Seasoning

• Oil

Method:

1. Blend the garlic, coriander, chilli, ginger, cumin, cinnamon, turmeric and the juice of half a lime in a food processor in order to create a paste. Save a handful of the coriander and the stalks for later.

2. Fry off the onions in some oil and the paste until they are translucent. Then add the peppers and cook for 5 minutes. Proceed to add the tomatoes, pour in the water and cook for 40 minutes – until it has reduced by around half.

3. Pop some rice on to boil. Place in the chicken, cook for 5 minutes, then add the rest of the lime juice, the crème fraîche and the coriander stalks. Simmer for a further 10 minutes, giving the chicken plenty of time to cook. Season to taste and serve with the rice and a dollop of crème fraîche. One may flavour the rice in any way one wishes – the rice in the picture contained turmeric and some chopped up coriander.

Cost: This curry should cost no more than £1.20 per portion. Very cheap considering a main dish from a takeaway can cost as much as £8. Perhaps this blog will signal the end of Indian cuisine’s reign of terror on the wallets of the innocent public of Great Britain, then again, perhaps not.