If you follow me on Twitter you will know that Wednesdays in our apartment is always curry night. While I've always been a fan of curries they use to come out of a jar, until Joe encouraged me to start experimenting in making my own. Now curries are one of my favourite things to cook, from tandoori, onion gravy curries to garam masala curries I've made pastes, naan pizza curries - everything.
Making your own curries the first couple of times can be rather intimidating but they are some great simple recipes out there to get you on your way. While there's the expense of having to purchase lots of different spices, in the long run you'll find it cheaper and you'll enjoy the freedom of being able to mix and match, change it for your tastes or for how spicy you like it, and know it's all fresh when you get down to the all important eating.
So I thought I'd share with you an easy basic chicken curry recipe which is mild to medium in hotness if you're looking for somewhere to start. This recipe itself is one I've changed to fit our tastes and what we have in the fridge and that itself is one of the beauty's of making curries - you can add or take out anything you don't like or don't have.
INGREDIENTS to make a 2/3 person serving
- Vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion
- 1 large chicken breast
- 3 cloves of garlic
- 1 green chili
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp turmeric
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/3 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tin of diced tomatoes
- 1/4 - 1/2 cup of plain yoghurt
- 1/4 tsp of garam masala
Start by finely chopping your onion and fry with vegetable
oil on a mid to high heat, I like my onions to start going nice
and brown which takes 5/8 minutes. When your onions are golden
add in your chicken breast which should be cut into bite sized pieces.
Frying the chicken for around 5 minutes add in your chopped chilli [making sure you removed the seeds] and crushed garlic, quickly frying them for a minute or two. Then the fun bit - add in all the lovely spices - the salt, turmeric, coriander and cumin, making sure everything is mixed well.
Pour in your tinned tomatoes and reduce the heat to low, cover the pan and leave to simmer around 15 minutes. You can add water a tablespoons at a time if your curry is starting to loose all it's gravy and juices.
By now your curry should be simmering nicely so add in the plain yoghurt. Once mixed, turn off the heat, add your garam masala. Serve on rice with or without naan bread.
Tasty indeed!
Have you ever made your own curry?