DRUM roll please, folks. Here is is… my clean chicken curry recipe, as promised.
WINTER WARMER: My delicious clean chicken curry
Well, I say “mine”, but actually this is my mum’s recipe. We’ve pretty much been eating this chicken curry all our lives. It’s not something I adapted or invented when I converted to clean food. I didn’t need to. It’s comprised of fresh meat, fresh tomatoes spices, fresh herbs, fresh chilli and fresh garlic. So essentially, it ticks every clean eating box there is. And as for the health benefits, where do I start? You get cancer protection from the tomatoes and turmeric. The onions help lung function and boost immunity. The garlic keeps your blood thin. Coriander helps to ease osteo-arthritis. The chicken is a great source of protein to help the body repair and build new lean muscle.
Isn’t it funny, then, how people watching their weight with calorie-controlled diets will run a million miles from something like this, instead opting for some low-fat microwave ready meal in the mistaken belief that they are making healthy choices.
Indoctrination by certain weekly slimming clubs means that we humans would rather eat something that not only contains a lot of ‘ingredients” that our bodies don’t recognise as food, but is also cooked in a way that zaps any semblance of nutrition and goodness anyway.
Be honest, how many times have you secretly wondered to yourself when you press that button, how the heck these things manage to do in 60 seconds what it takes a regular oven 60 minutes?
And haven’t you asked yourself whether that can really be good for you? Well, if you have. The answer is, it isn’t. But that is a whole other blog post. Suffice it to say you need to get shut of it and start cooking food properly.
Which brings me back to the curry.
So, how do I know how to cook curry from scratch? Simple. My Irish gran learned this recipe first and then passed it on to my mum, who passed it to me. But before you question its authenticity, my gran perfected her curry cooking skills while living in India with her Indian husband. So it’s got credentials with knobs on.
Oh and before I give it to you, I would just make a request. Please please please use free range chicken if you can. If you don’t really care about the welfare of battery chickens, make that choice for your own health. Battery chickens are pumped full of anti-biotics. Do you really want to be eating that?
Here it is…enjoy!
INGREDIENTS
SERVES FOUR (OR TWO WITH LOADS LEFT OVER FOR LUNCH THE FOLLOWING DAY)
GARLIC: Brilliant for keeping our blood healthy.
FOUR TO SIX LARGE SKINLESS CHICKEN BREASTS, CHOPPED INTO LARGE CHUNKS
COCONUT OIL
ONE OR TWO ONIONS MEDIUM WHITE ONIONS
FRESH GARLIC, AT LEAST THREE CLOVES
FRESH GINGER
FRESH CHILLI
GARAM MASALA
CUMIN POWDER
CORIANDER POWDER
TURMERIC
FRESH TOMATOES
ORGANIC TOMATO PASTE
FRESH CORIANDER LEAVES TO GARNISH
Instructions
1. Heat three tablespoons of coconut oil/ vegetable oil/rice bran oil in a pan. Don’t use olive oil because the flavour is too strong. Add two chopped white onions and fry until golden. Take your time with this, should take about 10 minutes. Don’t let them burn. You can just use one onion, but the more onion, the more sauce you will have.
2/ Make a paste from garlic and ginger. This is a personal thing. If you like garlic you can add as many cloves as you want. I would say anywhere from about three big ones upwards, same with the ginger. I’d probably use about an inch long piece and chop. Chop the garlic and ginger and place in a blender with a splash of water to make a paste. Add to the onion and stir constantly for about one minute. Next, add the chilli – again according to your taste. If you like it hot then add two chopped chillis. I tend to use about half a chilli, chopped and de-seeded. Stir into the onion for about two minutes – don’t let the garlic burn so don’t have the heat too high.
3/ Spices go in next – one heaped teaspoon of cumin, two teaspoons of coriander, three quarters of of garam masala, half of turmeric and a pinch of sea salt. Fry the spices over a medium heat until the oil separates from them. If you tip the pan, you oil should run away, leaving the spices. If you find the pan is drying up add a little more oil. You can also add a splash of water from a freshly boiled kettle to help this. Should take about five or six minutes. Stir constantly.
4/ Add a good squeeze of organic tomato puree and two or three large fresh tomatoes, chopped finely. And fry until all the spices and onion are coated and the toms are sweating down. Keep stirring. By now it should be smelling divine!
5/ Add chicken breasts or skinless thighs and stir fry until starting to brown.
6/ Add enough water to just cover, bring to boil briefly then turn heat right down and allow to simmer until the liquid has reduced and thickened and you have a nice sauce. Probably about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with fresh chopped coriander if you have some and serve. You can accompany this with some basmati rice if you want.
There you go, any questions – give me a shout.
Oh, and by the way, if you’re worried about stinking of garlic the day after, chew some fresh parsley to neutralise your breath. Just make sure you pick the green bits out of your teeth! :-))
