West Indian Chicken Curry

I grew up on this curry, well a version very similar. My mother used to make it every Saturday (we had a meal for every day actually, I think my mum only really ever cooked seven different things!). Anyway, it was probably my favourite meal of the week, and once I left home I made sure I got the recipe from her! Over the years I have tweaked it a little to my liking, i.e. I use chicken breast instead of thigh, I don’t add potatoes, I added yoghurt and I use canned tomatoes to make it more saucy. It’ s a medium spicy dish but feel free to add more or less chili to adjust to your preference. You can serve it with veg, rice, rotis or naan, or a combination! Rotis and naan are good to soak up the juice of course! My mum always made rotis from scratch, but I just bought naan for this one.

Serves 3/4.

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 100g plain yoghurt
• 1 tsp thyme
• 2 tsp cumin
• 2 tsp coriander
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp paprika
• 3 tsp Madras/medium curry powder
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 inch cube fresh ginger, grated
• 1 red chili, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil

 Method:

1. Put the chicken in a bowl with all the spices and herbs except the ginger and the garam masala. Mix to coat the chicken.
2. Heat the oil in a large pan and fry the chicken until browned, then remove from the pan and set aside.
3. Then add the onion, chili, garlic and ginger to the pan and fry until softened. Then add the chopped tomatoes and heat through. Add the chicken back to the pan.
4. Leave on a large ring on the lowest number for at least 1 hour, or at most 1.5 hours (the longer you cook it the more tender the chicken will be).
5. Add the garam masala and yoghurt 10 minutes before the end of the cooking time.