Spicy Chicken Coconut Curry

My first post on a savoury dish, shocking I know! I was half tempted to keep this purely a baking blog but I love cooking non-sweet treats nearrrllyyy just as much, nearly.. :) so thought i'd share a meal recipe too, incase you fancy a change!

We adore a good curry in my little household, especially my ma, and as such have christened Saturday nights 'Curry night'! Every Saturday I rustle up a curry, mostly trying out new recipes (I have found some stars over the past year or so, 3 of which I am especially dying to tell you about but I will have to wait until I make them again as a post without photos is just silly)

I first stumbled over this recipe on the lovely blog Eats Well With Others. I have made another recipe from this site (the pecan slices, I will have to make them again soon) which turned out to be glorious, and it is originally a highly rated Tyler Florence recipe, so I was pretty sure it would turn out well if all went to plan

Apart from halving it, I followed the recipe almost exactly. The changes I made was to add in half a red bell pepper and at the end I put in about 1/2 tsp dried chili flakes as there was not as much of a kick as I like, next time I would use 2 or even 3 dried red chiles I think. I tend to prefer a thicker sauce than this curry, but when served up with lots'a lovely rice, all that deliciously fragrant gravy is soaked up, so really...no complaints! After cooling the sauce thickens up a fair bit anyway and the reheated leftovers are just as, if not more, divine.

The verdict: scrum-diddly-umptious, definitely needed the extra kick from the chili flakes to please our tastes but it was really flavoursome for such a simple recipe. If you prep all the ingredients before hand it really is just a matter of bunging them in in a certain order and letting it do its thang. It tastes just like a restaurant curry (insert chuffed face) and although there have been 'Curry Night' recipes I have preferred, there have not been many. For how tasty and easy it is it's definitely worth a shot if you fancy a happy belly and impressed nearest n dearest :)

And this is allll it takes to make this yumminess, crazy huh! (minus the cilantro..im clever)

Below is the halved recipe, it served 2 greedy adults with 1 decent sized leftover portion

Spicy Chicken Coconut Curry

Adapted from Tyler Florence as found via Eats Well With Others

Serves 3

1 1/2 Tbsp (3/4oz) butter

1 medium onion, chopped

1/2 inch ginger, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1 Tbsp Garam Masala*

1/2 cinnamon stick (or 1 whole)

1-2 dried red chiles

salt and pepper

1 (15oz) can coconut milk (I used light)

1 cup (240ml) chicken stock

1/2 red bell pepper, chopped

2 tomatoes, deseeded and chopped

3/4 lb skinless chicken breast (2 large), cut into bite sized pieces

1/4 cup cilantro (aka coriander), plus more for serving

juice of 1/2 lemon 

Heat the butter in a med/large pan over medium-low heat, add the onions, ginger and garlic. Cook slowly until the onions are very soft, approximately 15 minutes

Add the tomato paste, garam masala, cinnamon stick and chiles - stir well. Season with salt and pepper, add the coconut milk and stock, bring to a simmer

Cook until the sauce has thickened, about 20 minutes, adding the red pepper half way through

Add the tomatoes, chicken, cilantro and half the lemon juice. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through, approx 10/15 minutes (I let mine simmer for about 20/25mins)

Taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and remaining lemon juice

Garnish with cilantro and serve with lots'a rice (brown rice all the way!)

Notes

* Garam Masala is a curry powder that can be found in most supermarkets, its a wonderful mix that I use often but if you cannot find it you can make your own. If you follow the link to Tyler Florence's recipe he provides instructions to make your own Garam Masala

     Click, print, and get cooking!