Chicken Curry

The OH hates it when I do homemade curry, generally complaining that it never tastes anything like the ‘real’ curries we get from the local Indian. Not to be deterred, I keep trying and, more and more, they’re tasting like ‘real’ curry rather than chicken in spicy sauce!

The trick was, a little like with children, to get him involved in making it, so his job was to mix the spices and rub into the chicken.

We used:

cumin seeds,

coriander seeds,

cardamom pods,

turmeric,

garlic,

garam masala,

curry powder,

and probably a few other things I found at the back of the cupboard!

The OH ground them in a pestle and mortar, added a few splashed of olive oil and popped into a bog with the chicken, rubbing it all in. I fried off onions, red pepper and garlic, then browned the chicken very quickly. Adding a tin of tomatoes and half a tin of water, I let it simmer until the chicken was tender and the sauce reduced. Another spoon of garam masala and curry powder was added towards the end.

Meanwhile, I decided to do the rice properly in the oven! I added cardamom pods, salt and turmeric before covering with water and putting into a hot oven with a layer of foil over the top. At first, it didn’t do anything, then all of a sudden, the water had been absorbed and the rice was nearly done!

Served with shop-bought naan bread and chapattis, and a chopped banana. And the verdict – well, he didn’t want to take the leftovers to work the next day for lunch, but, having grudgingly done so, decided that it was much better the next day as the flavours had had time to intensify: perhaps that’s the key, leaving your chicken pieces to marinate overnight!