Actually... when I say Indian curry I actually mean English Indian curry, which is slightly different (probably... I've never been to India... I almost went but they wouldn't let me in... for the full story click here...). My father is a curry affectionado, and makes a mean chicken curry. He uses all the raw spices and creates his own curry paste, chappatis, flavoured rice... everything! I am not that good... As I mentioned somewhere here I like food that is easy to make and tasty. So no manufacture of curry paste for me! I use curry paste from a jar, and here is how I do it...
Ingredients (serves 4)
500g of chicken
around an eighth of a large cabbage
2 medium sized potatoes
one carrot, large
one large onion
10 large mushrooms (about 400g)
one red pepper
two chillies (red or green or both)
half a bulb of garlic
2 tomatoes
about half a jar of sherwoods curry paste (I like madras or rogan josh, but any is ok)
one teaspoon of chilli powder
half a litre of chicken or vegetable stock
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups of rice
Equipment
two large saucepans
one large frying pan or wok
something to stir with
a large knife
chopping board
bowl
The first step is to chop the chicken into large pieces, about an inch square should do it. Place the chicken into the bowl with about a tablespoon of the curry paste. Mix this well and put it aside to marinade. If you can do this the day in advance and cover and refrigerate it then all the better.
Next you want to chop the potato into about one centimetre pieces, the carrot into similar sized squares and the cabbage as small as you can get it. Place all of this into one of the large saucepans and add the stock. The stock should cover over the vegetables. If it doesn't then add some water until the vegetables are covered. Add the chilli powder, a tablespoon of curry paste, salt and pepper. Put this pan on a high heat. Keep an eye on this pan. When it starts to boil reduce the heat so it is simmering.
While the large saucepan is heating up chop the mushrooms into large pieces. Fry the mushrooms on a high heat with a bit of vegetable oil. Chop the garlic and the chillies and add them at this stage. Once the mushrooms are browned add the marinaded chicken to the frying pan and turn the heat down to medium. Remember to stir the frying pan from time to time.
While the chicken is browning chop the onion into medium sized pieces and add it to the mix in the frying pan. Keep on moving all of this occasionally. Chop the red pepper and add this as well. Once all of this seems cooked (the onions should be soft, and make sure the chicken is cooked through) take the entire contents of the frying pan and add it to the saucepan with the vegetables in it. Turn the heat down low if you haven't already done so.
The curry will taste better the longer you leave it to cook, but the essential thing to check is that the potatoes are cooked. If it looks a bit dry then add some water. About ten minutes before you serve you should add the tomatoes. They should be chopped into large pieces.
While the curry is simmering you can cook the rice. This is the method that I prefer to cook rice. It gets pretty good results, but you really need a gas hob. If you don't have a gas hob then you need a very sensitive and responsive hob. I add two cups of rice into the other large saucepan. Rinse this rice by pouring cold water into the rice, stirring it off, and then pouring the water out. Rice sinks so this is fairly easy. Repeat the rinsing process if needed. Add three cups of water and place the pan on a high heat. Put a lid on the pan. Wait until the water is boiling and then turn the heat down as low as you can get it. The lower you can get it the better in this situation. Take the lid off the pan. You need to keep an eye on the rice and let it stay on the heat until ALL of the free water has gone. There should be no dampness left at the bottom of the rice. You never want to stir rice or it will break up. If you leave the rice on too long, or have the heat too high then you will burn the rice to the base of the pan... which is a real pain to clean off!
Once the rice is cooked, serve it onto four plates and portion out the curry to the four plates.
Enjoy!
Variations
There are many things you can add to this recipe. You can add pumpkin or sweet potato to the mix. Add these with the potato and cabbage at the start. You can add chopped spinach. I would add this at the end, along with the tomato.
An alternative meat would be lamb. This may need cooking for longer to make it tenderer.
For vegetarians just take out the chicken and add some pumpkin or just more potato.
Have more or less chilli powder to make the curry spicier or milder.
If you accidentally make the curry too hot then natural yoghurt works well to cool it down.
A great side to this dish is nan bread or chappatis (I generally buy them pre made, but if you feel adventurous you can make your own. I might post a recipe one of these days...)
