This recipe comes from my trustee Family Circle Low Fat cookbook.
It does involve a fairly lengthy cooking time, so if you are planning to serve it at a dinner party it is best prepared a day or two in advance: like any stew, the flavours develop nicely during the wait.
The curry is intended to be spicy, but you can easily cut down on the amount of chilli for more delicate palates. There are a fair amount of aromatic spices involved, but all are readily available at supermarkets, and you will need a blender of some description to create the paste: the attachment on my hand whizzer does the trick beautifully.
The recipe also uses a whole jointed chicken, but you could use the equivalent weight in breasts, thighs and drumsticks: try and use some meat on the bone as it does add to the flavour and keeps the flesh succulent.
- 1.5 kg chicken jointed
- 1/2 tbsp sunflower oil
- 2 onions peeled, halved and thinly sliced
- 1 tsp Ground turmeric
- 2 tsp garam masala
- 3 tsp chill powder
- 2 garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp fresh ginger finely chopped
- 1 tbsp poppy seeds
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- 2 cardamom pods split and seeds removed - discard husks
- 1 star anise
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 200 ml Reduced fat coconut milk
- 4 medium tomatoes roughly chopped
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan and brown the chicken in batches, setting aside on a plate once done.
- Meanwhile, soften the onion in a separate pan coated in frylight.
- While the onions cook, make the paste. Place the garlic. ginger and all the seeds (poppy, fennel and cardamom) in a blender with 2 tablespoons of coconut milk and whizz.
- Once the onions are silky, add the powdered spices, stir for a minute, then add the chicken.
- Add the paste, remaining coconut milk, star anise, cinnamon and tomatoes, stir and add a little water if necessary to ensure a decent amount of sauce: it should just about cover the chicken,
- Simmer, covered. for about 45 minutes until chicken is tender. Remove chicken with slotted spoon, place on a serving dish and keep warm. Turn the heat up on the sauce and bubble for 15 minutes or so until it is reduced by about half and is nice and thick. Test for seasoning and add salt as desired during this process.
- Stir in the lime juice and pour the sauce over the chicken. If you are serving this a day or two later, leave the sauce reduction until the day of serving.