Vegie packed chicken curry

I love cooking up a big pot of curry on a Sunday to help ward off the dreaded Sunday night blues. This recipe serves 4, but feel free to add a bit extra of everything (which is why I ended up with an overflowing pot) so you have some leftovers to freeze.

In this instance, I whacked in a few extras like broccoli, kale and peas to ramp up the vegetable component. Kale in particular is definitely optional! (I was suckered into a bulk buy at Woolworths and as a result have had to add it to everything for a week. Lucky Robbie!). It worked out in the end but I think spinach would probably do the job just as well, if not better. The bottom line is that you can change up the vegetable component to suit your taste.

Ingredients: 700g chicken breast/thigh (diced), 1 tablespoon olive oil, 1 large onion diced, 2 cloves minced garlic, 1 teaspoon turmeric, 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, 3 tablespoons curry powder, ½ head cauliflower, ½ head broccoli, ¼ bunch of kale shredded or spinach, ½ cup frozen peas, 1 tin of chickpeas, 2 tins of crushed tomatoes, ½ can coconut milk. Rice, yoghurt and coriander to serve.

Method:

1. Brown the chicken in batches so that the meat doesn’t stew. Once done, remove from the pan.
2. Cook the onion until soft and translucent. Add the garlic, turmeric, ginger and curry powder, cooking for 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
3. Add the broccoli, cauliflower, kale, chickpeas and tomatoes. Add the chicken back in and simmer for 30 minutes or until the liquid thickens.
4. Add in the peas and coconut milk and cook for another 10 minutes.
5. Serve with rice of your choice, a dollop of natural yoghurt and a generous handful of coriander.

NB. If using spinach instead of kale, add it in at the end with the peas and coconut milk.

Enjoy!

Bri xx

Winter Comforts

Chicken and Vegetable Rogan Josh 

I must premise this next instalment with the fact that I only very loosely followed a recipe. When I make a big vegetable curry I am only too happy to play around with quantities. As long as you’ve got an extra tin of crushed tomatoes in the cupboard to add liquid if necessary, you can’t really go wrong. I was making this for 7 people so the quantities are quite large, however any excess can always be popped in the freezer if you can’t get through it all. The beauty there, of course, is that you will have plenty of curry goodness at your fingertips for whenever your culinary inspiration cannot extend past pressing “defrost” on your microwave.

Ingredients: 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, 1 large red onion (sliced), 2 tablespoons rogan josh curry paste, 1 teaspoon garam masala, 1 medium sized sweet potato (cubed), 1 zucchini (sliced), 1 capsicum (diced), ½ eggplant (cubed), ½ cauliflower in florets, 2 cans chickpeas, 2 cans crushed tomatoes, 200g spinach leaves, 1 cup of frozen peas, 2 shredded chicken breasts and 1 can light coconut milk.

Method:

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large, heavy based saucepan. Cook onion for 5 minutes until softened. Add rogan josh curry paste and garam masala and cook until fragrant and the onion is well coated.
2. Add sweet potato, zucchini, capsicum, eggplant & cauliflower. Stir until coated.
3. Add chickpeas and crushed tomatoes. Bring to the boil and then reduce heat to medium-low and cook until vegetables are tender. This will take at least 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Just before serving, add in shredded chicken breast, can of coconut milk for creaminess, spinach leaves and frozen peas for freshness.

I served the curry with fragrant steamed rice (basmati + peas, mint and coriander), homemade raita (natural yoghurt, mint, coriander, cucumber and garam masala), poppadums and roti.

         

This curry is ALWAYS a hit, and makes for a great mid-week curry feast!

Shanks and Cheese

On returning from their honeymoon, my sister and my brand new brother-in-law cooked us a delicious dinner to keep the celebrations going. On the menu were slow-cooked lamb shanks (Jamie Oliver recipe) with mash and greens and a glorious cheese platter, which also included a large sprinkling of macadamia chocolate and strawberries. The cheese, olive bread, chocolate and strawberries were all sourced from the Eumundi markets and were out of this world. I haven’t been to the markets in quite a few years but feel I should put it on my list of things to do, if the quality of this produce was anything to go by! The honeymooners also scored some gloriously fragrant basil, which gave lightness to the shanks and the mashed potato a fragrant note.

 

Let’s hope the weather drops about 10 degrees so we can truly appreciate these winter warmers!

Bri xx