This green masala chicken curry is about as tasty a curry as you can get. Packed with fresh coriander and mint, coconut, lemon juice, ginger and garlic, it is a fresh and healthy take on a curry that is also good for you.
Start by making the green chutney, if you can resist eating it all, keep cooking! This is great with chicken but I'm thinking it would be really nice with prawns as well.
For the green chutney:
100 grams of fresh coriander
50 grams of fresh mint
3 green chillies
3 cloves of garlic, peeled
1 inch square of ginger, peeled
50 grams of dessicated coconut
1/2 a can of coconut cream (around 135 grams)
3 teaspoons of raw or brown sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
juice of half a lemon
For the chicken curry:
500 grams of boneless chicken – leg or thigh fillet is preferable
3 tablespoons of oil
3 spring onions, finely chopped
chicken stock or coconut milk
lemon juice
salt to taste
To make the green chutney, rinse and dry the herbs, and then blend them with roughly chopped garlic, ginger and green chillies, and all the other ingredients for the chutney until you get a fine green paste. Set aside. Try not to eat it all.
To make the curry, heat oil in a large heavy based frying pan and fry the chicken in batches until it browns. Set aside. Wipe pan clean with a paper towel, heat another tablespoon of oil and add the spring onions. Fry for a couple of minutes, then add the green chutney. You don’t need to use the whole batch – I usually keep a small bowl aside to snack on and garnish the dish. After another minute or two, add the cooked chicken and continue to stir-fry until it is cooked.
If you would prefer to have a stir-fry rather than a curry, you can finish off the dish at this point with a bit of salt and lemon juice to serve. I have included a photo below of the curry at stir-fry stage.
To make the gravy, slowly add half a cup of chicken stock or coconut milk (depending on your preference) and cook until chicken is done. At the end, taste and add salt and lemon juice as needed, and stir in another tablespoon or so of fresh chutney just to retain the lovely fresh colour and flavour of the coriander and mint.
Eat with hot white rice. Yum!
