Meat and yoghurt curry

This meat and yoghurt curry can be made with nearly any type and cut of meat.  I use chicken a lot, and also lamb.  You can use a packet of tenderloin chicken for a curry ready in 20 minutes, or bone-in chicken, lamb forequarter chops or another cut that takes to hours of slow cooking, time permitted.  Using bone-in pieces of meat and cooking your curry slowly for a couple of hours will definitely give you the best result but it's not practical for weeknight meals.

Whatever your choice, this basic recipe will work beautifully.

For four people, you will need:

500-750 grams chicken or red meat (more for bone-in pieces)

2 heaped tablespoons full fat greek yoghurt

1 heaped tablespoon tomato paste

1 heaped tablespoon bottle masala

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon sugar

3 tablespoons of oil or ghee

1 red onion, finely sliced (optional)

1 green chilli, sliced vertically down the middle 

2 cloves of garlic, crushed (optional)

1 tablespoon of ginger, crushed 

1-1.5 cups of water or stock

Start by cleaning, cutting to size and marinading your meat.  Mix the yoghurt, tomato paste, bottle masala, salt and sugar into the meat and leave for at least 30 minutes, at best overnight.

When you are ready to cook, heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pan, fry the onion, ginger, garlic and chilli (or whatever combination of aromatics you are using) for at least 20 minutes if you're using onions, only a few minutes if not.  

Add the meat, scraping in all the marinade, and fry on medium-high heat for another few minutes.  Then turn the heat down, add a little water, cover and cook until meat is done, according to the approximate times below.  Stir occasionally and add a bit of water here and there, up to a cup and a half by the end.  Once your curry is done, taste for salt and sugar, and finish by squeezing in a bit of lemon juice and adding some fresh, finely chopped coriander. 

Approximate cooking times:

Chicken, boneless - 20 minutes (if you are using very small bits of tenderloin or breast, reduce this to 10-15 minutes)

Chicken, bone-in thighs or legs - 45 minutes

Red meat, bone-in - 2 hours, cook on low, in oven is a good option

Weeknight coconut chicken (or fish!) curry

There's nothing like a quick curry to give you that taste hit to get through the week.  I love nothing more than taking time to slow fry my onions and simmering my curry for hours on a weekend, but on a busy school night it's all about the flavour without the hard work.  And this is pretty easy using my bottle masala, a healthy, pre-roasted mix of more than 20 different spices - so good for you.  The list of ingredients looks long but don't be daunted, it's easy to put together and I often leave a few out. 

I have left all the ingredients for a traditional curry in this recipe, but I most often omit the onions, and sometimes the garlic, depending on what I have in the kitchen.  Frying onions is a labour of love, your curry will always taste raw if you only fry them for a few minutes - you really need at least 15-20 minutes of cooking, so it's much easier to leave them out when you're short of time.  Using only ginger can also give your curry a different flavour which is nice from time to time.  I actually really love the ginger only version.  

You can also substitute a nice fish in this curry... the fish version with no onion and garlic is one of my favourites.  If you're using fish, choose a firm, thick steak that won't disintegrate.  Cook your whole gravy first, then gently place the fish in the curry, and simmer for a few minutes until done.

To serve four, you will need:

500 grams of boneless chicken (thigh or tenderloin) or 750 grams to a kilo if using bone-in legs or thighs 

3 tablespoons of coconut oil 

1 red onion, finely chopped (optional)

2 large cloves of garlic, crushed (optional)

1 tablespoon of ginger, finely grated

1 stalk of curry leaves (if you have them)

1 green chilli, sliced vertically down the middle

1 heaped tablespoon of bottle masala (or very good, natural curry powder)

1 tin of good quality coconut milk (I use Ayam brand)

1 coconut tin full of water or stock (equal amount)

1-2 teaspoons of tamarind paste (can substitute with freshly squeezed lemon juice)

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

Finely chopped fresh coriander to garnish (optional)

To make the curry, heat the coconut oil, and slowly fry the onions if using.  If not, add the curry leaf (also optional), green chilli, and both ginger and garlic or ginger only to the pan.  After a couple of minutes, add the bottle masala, then quickly add the chicken - you don't want the curry powder to burn, followed by the coconut milk.

If you're using fish, just add the coconut milk directly to the aromatics.  Fry for another minute or two, then lower heat and simmer until cooked for chicken (around 20 minutes for boneless, 45 for bone-in), around 10-15 minutes if you're going to use fish.

After this, top up the gravy with the extra stock or water, then add the tamarind paste, salt and sugar to taste - you want the gravy to be a bit tangy.  Your chicken curry is now done (for the fish version, add the fish now and simmer for another 5-10 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish).

Add some finely chopped coriander and serve, leave out if coriander is not your thing. 

Green chilli chicken kebabs

These chicken kebabs are so quick to make and are perfect summer food, easy to grill or barbecue and serve with flatbreads and salad.  To make them for four people, you will need:

500 grams of boneless chicken thigh 

half a red onion

3-4 green chillies

1 teaspoon of salt

half a tablespoon of cumin powder

half a teaspoon of turmeric

1 teaspoon of ginger, grated finely

1 teaspoon of garlic, crushed

Juice of half a lemon

bamboo or metal skewers

Blend all ingredients apart from the chicken in a food processor or small blender (the nutribullet is great for this) to make the marinade.

Trim fat from the chicken and chop into pieces around an inch square.  Mix in the marinade in well, then leave to sit in the fridge for as long as you have - overnight is best but even 20 minutes will do.

Thread the chicken onto skewers and grill or barbecue till done.

Serve with lots of fresh lemon.

Chicken and coconut curry

Of all my granny's recipes, this is probably the most famous and well loved.  When I was very young and living in Bombay, I remember her having her tea on the verandah of our flat, chairing often-heated discussions about the day's menu with her kitchen staff.  Chicken curry was always a favourite, served with pilau, mince cutlets and yellow potatoes.

Mornings would be spent grinding fresh masala and cracking open coconut, with fresh aromatic smells filling the house along with the sound of sizzling pots of frying onions.  Life seemed to be conducted and time pass in tune with the food the household cooked and ate.  If I made a 1000 chicken curries I could not recreate the anticipation and flavour of that delicious lunchtime meal.

To make your own version, you need to use my hand roasted and ground bottle masala, but if you don't have any try a very freshly ground good quality curry powder instead.  Or buy some of my masala.... really :). 

You can also replace chicken in this recipe with any meat, fish or seafood, and adjust cooking times to suit. 

For four people, you will need:

3 tablespoons of coconut oil 

1 red onion, finely chopped or grated (optional)

1-2 green chillies, sliced vertically down the middle 

2 cloves of garlic (optional)

1 heaped tablespoon of crushed ginger (optional)

1 stalk of curry leaves (optional)

500 grams of chicken pieces (try not to use breast - legs, thigh and tenderloin are ok)

2 heaped teaspoons of bottle masala

2 tablespoons of tomato paste

2 tablespoons of white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 a teaspoon of sugar

1 tin of coconut milk or cream

Stock or water

Fresh coriander to garnish 

Marinate the chicken in a mixture of the tomato paste, vinegar, bottle masala, salt and sugar for as long as you can (overnight is great but not essential - I often don't leave it to rest at all if I'm in a hurry).

Heat the oil in a heavy pan and fry the onions until brown and caramelised (10-15 minutes), add the curry leaf, green chilli, garlic and ginger and fry for another 2-3 minutes. All of these ingredients are optional, so if you don't have time to fry the onions, omit them. Ginger and garlic will add lots of flavour but you can also omit either one and use more of the other depending on the flavours you like best.  

Add in the chicken and as much marinade as you can scrape in, and fry for another minute or two.  

Slowly add half a cup of water or stock and cover and cook until the chicken is done (15-20 minutes for boneless, 40 minutes for legs or bone-in thighs is a good guesstimate), stirring occasionally.  When everything is cooked, add half to one cup of coconut milk or cream and taste for salt or sugar, then cook for 10 more minutes.  

Garnish with fresh coriander and you can also add a good squeeze of lemon juice before serving. 

Wendy's pickle fowl

My friend Wendy Chaves from Bombay sent me this recipe for a traditional East Indian curry called Pickle Fowl... not one I've ever come across before or could find in any of my old recipe books.  

It is a very elegant precursor to the more modern British tradition of cooking curries with dried fruits and nuts, and let me tell you, it is one of the most delicious curries I have ever tasted in my life.  It is hot, sweet and sour all at once, and full of fresh ingredients. 

I can't recommend it highly enough.. stop what you are doing and cook it immediately!

To make a substantial curry for 6-8 people you will need:

1 kilo of boneless chicken thighs 

5-6 tablespoons of oil

6 small onions, very finely chopped or roughly blended

10-12 dried red chillies

1 pod of garlic (around 10-12 cloves)

2 tablespoons of finely chopped ginger

1/4 cup of white wine vinegar

100 grams of raw cashew nuts

50 grams of 'kishmish' (raisins)

1 1/2 teaspoons of salt

First blend the raisins and the cashews until you have a thick paste and set aside.  Next, blend the red chillies, garlic and ginger in the white wine vinegar to a paste and set this aside as well.

Heat the oil in a large pot and gently fry the onions until they have turned a light brown.  Add the chicken pieces and brown them too.  

Add the chilli, ginger and garlic paste, stir fry for a couple of minutes until the oil starts to separate, add a small amount of water and the salt and cover and simmer until the chicken is nearly done (around 15 minutes for boneless chicken thigh pieces).  

After this, stir in the raisin and cashew paste, turn up the heat slightly and fry until the sauce reduces slightly and you end up with a bright red, thick gravy.

We added a few whole toasted cashews to the curry at the end, and ate much more of it than we intended.  It was totally amazing!  

I think it would taste great with duck, or even prawns ... so watch out for the next version. 

Thank you Wendy!

Green masala chicken curry

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!

Masala roast chicken