100 Things 004: Fruity Chicken Korma
I wasn't going to post another recipe today, but this is what I'm making for dinner tonight so I thought I'd make it today's post. Making your own korma at home is obviously a bit of a performance so not something you can do when you feel like takeout, but you could make this ahead and freeze it. It's delicous, dairy free, and you can adjust the spices to your liking. It's not a super frugral recipe - I think it comes out about £5 per head, but it's still significantly cheaper than eating out.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- Two good sized chicken breasts or 8 chicken thighs
- Oil, salt and pepper for roasting
- Half a large cauliflower
- Large orange pepper
- Large courgette
- Pack baby sweetcorn
Variation: use a whole cauliflower and a pumpkin in place of the pepper and sweetcorn. Or mix it up, whatever veg strikes your fancy!
For the sauce
- One onion, finely chopped
- One garlic clove, finely chopped
- One inch piece of ginger, grated
- 400ml can coconut milk
- 250 litres vegetable or chicken stock
- Three tbsp tomato puree
- Four cardamom pods, lightly bruised with the edge of your knife
- Two tsp turmeric
- Three tsp coriander
- Three tsp cumin
- Three tbsp curry powder
- Two tsp garam masala
- Eight dried apricots, quartered
- One small eating apple, cored and chopped into small cubes
- Half a cup ground or flaked almonds
- Cornflour to thicken
For the rice
- Four cups basmati rice with enough water to cook (I used the rice cooker, your quantities may vary)
- Tin chopped mushrooms
- One and a half cups frozen peas
- Seven cloves
- Two tsp turmeric
- One tbsp caraway seeds (optional, but the 'bite' was a lovely contrast with the creaminess of the curry sauce)
Method
- Chop vegetables and place in a roasting tin, drizzle with oil
- Place chicken in a roasting tin, drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper
- Roast both for 35 minutes or till chicken is cooked
Meantime, cook the rice - just simmer with all the flavourings, and the mushrooms and frozen peas added
To make the sauce
- Gently fry the onion, garlic and ginger until the onion is soft
- Add all curry seasonings and stir through
- Fry for a minute longer, still stirring
- Add coconut milk and whisk through to blend
- Slowly pour in stock, whisking all the time
- Add tomato puree, apple, apricots and almonds, and stir through
- SImmer for at least ten minutes, thickening with cornflour if needed
To serve
- Chop up the cooked chicken and add to the roast vegetables, drain off any excess oil
- Pour over sauce and stir to mix through
- Serve over the rice, with naan breads or poppadoms