Yes, it’s one of those rare posts on savouries. Don’t get me wrong, I love my savouries. But I’ve always preferred creating sweets.
Sharing a curry recipe today. Why curry? Other than the fact that I’ve always wanted to try making it from scratch, it’s also related to a little announcement I’m making at the end of this post.
Cooking curry is foreign to me. When I do cook, I usually prepare eggs, pasta, wholesome salads or bentos.
I love curry, but it’s not something I crave on a regular basis. However, there are just some days when you want something a little more substantial and comforting. It was that kinda day for me. Further, I was growing slightly tired of my repeated lunchbox ideas and I wanted something a little different to tide me through my hellish examination week. Yep, food has the inherent ability to lift my spirits.
Making curry from scratch may sound daunting at first, but it really isn’t. You just need a lot of herbs and spices. Tip: Make a large batch of sauce at once and freeze it for future use!
I confess that the naan is store-bought. This flatbread makes for an excellent pairing with the curry, and is also great to mop up the sauce. Without further ado, here’s the recipe:
Serves 5 – 6 (adapted from The Gluttons Kitchen)
Estimated preparation time: 30 minutes
Resting time: 30 minutes
Cooking time: about 90 minutes
- 5 to 6 pieces of chicken thigh or breast, cut into chunks
- 1/2 cup of chickpeas
- 1 cup mixture of carrots and long beans
- large pinch of salt
- 2 teaspoons of ground coriander
- 1½ teaspoon of cumin
- 1 teaspoon of turmeric
- 1 teaspoon of dried chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon of paprika
- 1 thumb sized piece of ginger, peeled and finely grated fresh ginger
- 4 cloves of crushed garlic
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of butter
- 2 large onions, finely sliced
- 250g natural unsweetened or Greek yoghurt
- 300ml water
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
- juice of 1 lime
- 2 teaspoons of sugar
- 1 handful of chopped coriander
- 1 handful of curry leaves
Put the chicken pieces in a bowl, add in the spices, salt, ginger and crushed garlic and toss together to coat the meat. Leave aside, covered at room temperature for about 30 minutes.
Place a large heavy pan over medium-high heat and add the oil and butter and then the onions. Cook until onions are soft and translucent. Add in the chicken pieces and cook for another 5 minutes until lightly browned.
Add in the yoghurt (Tip: add in a tablespoon at a time to prevent curdling). Add in the water and the tin of tomatoes, stir well and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Add in the chickpeas and vegetables. Lower the heat and allow to simmer, stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn’t stick or dry out too much – you want the sauce to reduce to a thickened consistency, but not evaporate entirely.
Leave to cook for around 90 minutes before adding in the chopped coriander, curry leaves, lime juice and sugar. Stir well and cook for a further 5 – 10 minutes. Season with more salt or pepper to taste. Serve warm with rice and naan.
// On another note, it’s break week! Looking forward to more kitchen experiments and events lined up over the week. In particular, I’m excited to attend SpiceOdyssey, an event by At-Sunrice GlobalChef Academy, on 10 October! The event is a showcase of the students’ culinary craft creativity in coming up with renditions according to a theme, as part of their final year project. I would love to have such a hands-on University project, especially since it involves being creative with conventional recipes.
Interested to explore Culinary Arts, Pastry and Bakery, F&B Management and Culinary Nutrition at a higher education level? At-Sunrice has several basic and advanced programmes catered for you. At-Sunrice will also be having an upcoming Open House on 17 October. If interested, please RSVP here: http://rsvp.at-sunrice.com and view http://www.at-sunrice.com/ for more information about them.
Happy long weekend!