Saturday 27 September 2014

child-friendly, chicken curry triumph (serves 4, preparation 20 mins, cooking 45 mins)

My son has recently started school and I thought it would be lovely if we could eat together in the evenings. Many of my favourite meals are (a) vegetarian and (b) spicy, both of which my son finds challenging. And so began my quest to adapt some of my recipes and find new ones to permit family meal-time.

This one is absolutely delicious and was a total triumph. If you do prefer vegetarian dishes, then feel free to replace the chicken with a greater quantity of cauliflower and mushrooms.

Ingredients

1-1½ tsp coconut oil (or olive oil if you don't have any)                      
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed 
1cm fresh ginger, grated 
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp brown mustard seeds, crushed
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp ground cumin
1 x 400g pack of diced chicken
1 x whole cauliflower, diced into small pieces
100g mushrooms, sliced
 300ml chicken stock
1 cinnamon stick
250g Greek yogurt
A handful of fresh, chopped coriander (optional)
A handful of sultanas (optional)

Gently fry the onions for 5 – 10 mins on a really low heat until soft and a bit see through.
Add the crushed garlic, grated ginger, ground coriander, ground mustard seeds, garam masala and ground cumin and cook for 1 - 2 minutes.
Add the chicken and cook for 10 mins over a gentle heat, stirring occasionally. Add the cauliflower and mushrooms and stir around before adding the cinnamon stick. Then pour in 300 ml chicken stock.
Simmer for 45 mins with the lid off so the sauce reduces.
(Cook some brown rice, which needs to simmer for 25 mins, to accompany the curry). 
Before serving, stir in the yoghurt and heat through. You can add sultanas and /or coriander if desired. My son likes sultanas whilst I am a huge fan of coriander.