Quick and Easy Chicken Jalfrezi

I have a few curry recipes on the blog so it’s not hard to notice curry is one of my favourite dishes. My mum’s curry recipe is quite similar to this, but takes a bit more time. This Jalfrezi is super quick and easy and includes more crunchy veg. The recipe usually does not call for peas but I had some in the fridge and thought I’d use them! Also, the amount of chillies in this recipe makes it quite spicy so if you are not a fan of spicy food I’d use fewer!

Ingredients:

• 500g chicken breast, chopped into small cubes (you can use thigh if you wish)

Tomato gravy

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 chillies, chopped
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• Salt to taste
• 4 fresh tomatoes, chopped
• 1 tin chopped tomatoes
• 2 tbsp Greek yoghurt

Fried veg

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 onion, cut into thick chunks
• 1 green pepper, cut into thick chunks
• 1/2 cup garden peas
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 fresh tomato, chopped
• 2 chillies, chopped
• 1 tsp garam masala

Method:

Sauce

Heat oil in a pan, add the cumin, chilli and garlic, and fry until lightly browned.

Add fresh and tinned tomatoes, salt and turmeric and cook until reduced a little.

Add chicken and stir to coat the pieces, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15-20 mins.

Add Greek yoghurt at the end of cooking.

Stir fry

In a separate pan heat the oil and add cumin. Cook until fragrant. Add onion, peppers, peas and chilli and stir fry to your liking.

Stir in garam masala at the end of frying.

Combine stir fry with cooked chicken and sauce and serve with basmati rice.

 

Coconut Chicken Curry

My usual curry is tomato-based and can be found here. However, I do enjoy a nice Thai green curry every so often, so I thought I’d have a go at making a coconut-based curry. This isn’t exactly a Thai curry, in fact it isn’t at all. It’s Indian style with Indian spices but just uses coconut milk as the base sauce. This makes it creamier than the tomato one and probably a bit more indulgent. I created the recipe based on a few other recipes I found online and I made adjustments and additions according to my taste – and it turned out very yummy! It’s so quick too!

Serves 3-4.

Ingredients:

• 800g chicken breast, cubed
• 1 tbsp medium hot curry powder
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1 head broccoli, cut into small florets
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 3-4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 inch cube fresh ginger (or 1 tsp ground ginger)
• 1 red chili, seeds removed, chopped
• 2 cans coconut milk (I used reduced fat and it was still nice!)
• 4 tbsp red curry paste
• 1 handful fresh coriander, chopped

Method:

In a bowl, coat the chicken in the curry powder, turmeric, cumin and ground coriander (and ginger if not using fresh), then transfer chicken and any loose spices left in the bowl to a large saucepan and fry on a medium heat until cooked (7-8 min).

Remove from the pan, set aside, and add broccoli, onion, garlic, chili and fresh ginger. Fry for a couple of minutes.

Add coconut milk to the pan and bring to the boil.

Add back chicken and simmer, uncovered, for 10-15 minutes.

Add red curry paste and stir until fully dissolved into the sauce.

Finally, just before removing from the heat add the fresh coriander to the pan and stir in before serving with rice.

Variations: Try using sugar snap peas in place of broccoli, or prawns instead of chicken (if using prawns you will want to cook them for less time so you should fry them initially until just turned pink and then add them back to the pan at the end of the simmering time).

Version with sugar snap peas which turned out lighter because of the type of curry paste used.

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.