Kerala Chicken Curry

Sometimes I prefer chicken to red meat, and that's ok, because it's mostly healthier. As part of our Indian Food Month at home, I made some chicken curry (also a first for me). And it was really yumm!

I found a weird website with I will mention at the end, that guided me most of the way. Some Indian recipes like to do things in stages, maybe it's traditional, or maybe there are real reasons that effect the taste. Anyway, most of the time I'm just lazy and throw everything in the pot, taste it, add salt and taste it again, adjust necessary flavours and then eat. Sometimes I just leave one or two of the steps out as in this case:

I fried ½ tsp mustard seeds (a teaspoon is ok too) and when they started popping (if they don’t pop it’s ok, move on and try it again another time, but be careful not to get burnt) I added 1 piece of cinnamon, 1 or 2 bay leaves, 2 cloves, 3 tspn grated garlic(6 cloves) and about 3-4 curry leaves. Before it burns, add 2 chopped onions, 5cm piece of grated ginger (or 2tspns), 3 green chillies. When the onions look like they’re about half done, add the chicken (about 900g is fine, 1kg will do as well as less) and stir it around until it goes all yellow and coated. I got chicken pieces with the skin on. Remember that free-range has more protein than the non-descript “surprise” chicken option, and so you get more bang for your buck. You also don't get hormones, added chlorine flavouring... etc. (

Add about 4 big potatoes chopped up, 4 chopped carrots, a teaspoon of garam masala, about 2 handfuls of peas (frozen peas are far more affordable on this side of the world). Let that cook with the lid on for 5 minutes.

Add 1.5 cups of coconut milk. I added a can of reduced fat coconut milk (about 440g) and cook for about 40min to make sure its well done and thoroughly tasty throughout.

Serve with brown rice to be healthy, and put some plain yog(h)urt, chutney and atchar on the side for an added taste sensation.

Should serve 4 hungry people with a little bit of seconds.

Here is the weird website with the original recipe (I like to add more vegetables where possible):

http://www.indianfoodsco.com/Recipes/chicken_images/ChickenCurries.htm

Butternut Curry Wrap

I had a take-away meal from an Indian restaurant, The Maharajah, months ago, but I can still remember how surprisingly tasty it was, although it was mostly a butternut roti. In fact, that's all I can remember: tasty indian butternut roti.

So since my husband has declared March "Indian Food Only" month, I took up the challenge to make a similar recreation of that surprising, and tasty meal. And the results were, with a bit of deviation from the recipe: surprisingly tasty to eat three times in a row.

I put a chopped butternut into a big pot and lightly fried it in minimal oil (5min). I added a 300ml chicken stock (recipe says veg stock, but I didn't have- can't taste the difference) and cooked the butternut with the lid on for 20min. I added a teaspoon of grated ginger, 2 of garlic, 1/2tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp coriander, 1/2 tsp tumeric, 2 cloves, 3 star anises, 3 cardamom seeds, 2 small pieces of cinnamon (try get cinnamon rather than cassia if possible- cassia's not healthy), 1 small tin tomotoe puree, 400g canned chickpeas (actually I used dry ones that I saoked and cooked seperatley in a presure cooker for speedy results- it's cheaper) and then 2 chopped tomatoes. You can let that cook for another 10min and take the lid off if you think there is too much liquid for a curry consistency.

Butternut + tomatoes? It's surprising. Never would have invented that flavour combo on my own.

Basically all the spices can be substituted for any curry paste/powder, but I thought I would be authentic and reckless, but it turned out perfectly. If you like it spicy and your curry powder/paste isn't, add 2 chillies chopped up finely.

Serve with wraps (was lazy and got mine from Woolies), coriander (and or cos lettuce), chutney of choice and large dollops of Greek yog(h)urt!

The curry can also be mixed into couscous for a different twist.

Serves 2 fairly skinny people for 2 dinners and one lunch. That's 6 meals, the original recipe only serves four, so maybe butternuts are smaller in the land of BBC.

Here's the original recipe: http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/775642/indian-butternut-squash-curry