Simple Chicken and Coconut Curry

I was preparing to make a simple salad for the blog this week.  A combination of finely sliced sprouts, caramelised roasted sweet potato and lightly toasted pecans, all drizzled with a light lemony herb dressing.  Fresh, crisp, full of flavour, I thought it was just the thing to help boost the immune system and banish the January blues.  Then I looked out the window.  It’s freezing cold, wet and miserable here, the sky is grey and each time I venture out I have to wrap my hands in whatever wool is to hand (that will be a pair of gloves then) and pace to my destination, breathing puffs of frozen air into my scarf to keep my lower face warm.  Lovely as I know it will be – and I may well work on it a little later - I don’t want a salad to eat, I want something warming, nourishing and hot!  Curry is the answer, of course it is – who, after all, doesn’t love a curry?

This is the quickest and easiest of curries: with a little prep, a little more marinating and a blast of cooking you have a delicious, rich and fragrant dish which I think does more for body and soul in January than any raw salad or seaweed juice ever could.  I’ve chosen to use chicken thighs because I think they hold the best flavour, but feel free to use whatever cut or indeed meat that you like.  The spices are a simple blend and are in no way gospel.  Use whatever you have and miss out whatever you haven’t - that’s the beauty of making a curry; you can flavour it to whatever heights you like.  I like this combination of spices and I think the coconut milk is key, adding creaminess and a buttery note.  You could however use cashew nuts to thicken the sauce, as I’ve done here in this Lamb Korma.  Serve with white basmati rice and a handful of coriander leaves – it’ll keep the cold and blues at bay.

SIMPLE CHICKEN AND COCONUT CURRY

Serves 4

8 skinless and boneless chicken thighs

1 large white onion

2 cloves of garlic

½ tin coconut milk

2 tsp garam masala

2 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp ground coriander

½ - 1 tsp chilli powder – depending on how hot you like it

½ tsp black mustard seeds

¼ tsp ground ginger

¼ tsp mixed spice

2 tbsp tomato puree

Juice of half a lemon

2 tbsp groundnut oil

A bunch of fresh coriander

Stir together the coconut milk, lemon juice and all of the spices in a large mixing bowl until blended.  Make a few diagonal cuts, about 1cm deep, on each chicken thigh and then place them in the marinade, leave to marinate for 2 – 24 hours. 

Preheat the oven to 220c (200c Fan).  Finely slice the garlic and cut the onion into thin half moons.  Heat the oil in a large, shallow heavy based casserole, fry the onion and garlic until softened and just starting to colour.  Add the chicken thighs and sauce into the casserole, season well and then bake in the oven for 30 - 35 minutes.  Serve on a bed of basmati rice with a scattering of torn coriander leaves over the top.

Chicken Mulligatawny

This classic Anglo-Indian affair is rich with spice, mellow with creamy coconut and soulful with chicken and split peas.  Seriously, if autumn has taken you a little by surprise and you are in need of something both delicious and sustaining, then this is the dish for you.  I don’t think there is any two Mulligatawny recipes the same; a fact that only adds to the beauty of the dish.  It means that there is no ‘right’ way of doing things here, the spices can be your own, additions down to personal feeling and the heat can be adapted to your whim.

Traditionally speaking, Mulligatawny is a spiced soup, moderate in temperature and usually made with chicken or lamb.  The reality is that the options are endless: some people choose to make it using lamb, rice and peas, while others go for a slightly more sambal combination of chopped chicken, boiled eggs, apple and even ( or so I have heard) bacon.  Personally speaking, I like to use a few hearty English vegetables as the base to my soup and then add to them handfuls of yellow split peas, cooked chicken, a pouring of coconut milk and a liberal bunch of coriander.  You can never have enough coriander.  My version leans towards the flavour of a dhal but with the robustness of a hearty soup, filled with cubes of sweet parsnip, tender chicken, comforting potato and a blend of fragrant spices.

Usually Mulligatawny contains cooked rice but I prefer to leave it out and instead, serve the soup with a bowl full of white basmati and poppadoms on the side.  You may think it is splitting hairs to serve it alongside rather than just in the soup, but really, I just prefer it that way and like the process of dipping in to one and then the other.  As is the nature of Mulligatawny, feel free to add or remove ingredients at will.  Although I will say that it is a marvellous way of using up leftover over roast chicken or lamb and, whatever you do, always serve it with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice just before eating: it brings out the richness of the spices and really adds to the flavour of the dish.

CHICKEN MULLIGATAWNY

Serves 4

150g/5½ oz cooked chicken, chopped into 1cm cubes

850ml/1½ pints chicken stock

1 large white onion

2 cloves of garlic

1 carrot

2 parsnips

1 large potato

2 large tomatoes

150g/5½ oz yellow split peas

200ml/7floz coconut cream

1tbsp olive oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp ground coriander

1 tsp black mustard seeds

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp chilli powder

½ inch piece of root ginger, peeled and grated

A bunch of coriander

4 lemon wedges

Place the chicken stock and split peas in a large saucepan.  Bring to the boil, reduce the heat, cover and then leave to simmer for 20 minutes.  While the split peas are cooking, peel and trim the garlic, onion, parsnips, potato and carrot.  Finely chop the onion, cut the parsnips, potato, tomatoes and carrot into 2 cm cubes and crush the garlic cloves. 

Add the onion, potato, carrot, parsnips, garlic, and tomato to the soup base.  Season well and bring back to the boil.  Once boiling, reduce the heat and leave to simmer gently for around 15 minutes or until the potato and parsnips are tender to a knife point.

While the soup is cooking, finely chop the coriander, stalks and all, and heat the olive oil in a heavy based frying pan.  Add the cumin seeds, mustard seeds, coriander, turmeric, chilli, coriander stalks and grated fresh ginger.  Fry gently, stirring continuously until the aroma of the spices becomes very fragrant and the seeds begin to pop – this will only take about 3 minutes.

Stir the cooked spices and the coconut milk into the soup until combined.  Season and then add the cooked chicken and fresh coriander.  Stir through and then leave to simmer for a further 5 minutes before seasoning to taste.