At Home Chicken Madras
I love takeaway Indian food. Takeaway Indian food however does not love me. It puts my tummy into seriously bad form and adds quite unwelcome pounds to my ever-expanding a*s. So, the only real option is to cook it at home.
Takeaway food at home is becoming more and more popular as we become a) broke and b) more health-conscious. This is a very easy recipe if you have all the ingredients in your larder; I do, but only because I’m a total spice-freak, if you don’t or are short on time, just buy ready-made Madras paste or make your own with Madras powder and oil, frying off before adding the passata. This is enough for dinner for four. Oh, I forgot the fresh coriander in this pic. Guess it’s true home-cooking if you’re constantly forgetting something pretty important…
Oh btw – if, like us, you live in an apartment with an open plan kitchen / living room do please remove all coats, hats, scarves from your living room and open windows before cooking Indian at home. Otherwise, you will leave eau de curry wafting in your wake the next day at work. No’ nice.
- 2 onions, chopped + 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 4 chicken fillets, chunked + 2 cups brown rice + 1 tetrapak passata (400g approx)
- 1 very big glug vegetable oil
- 1 tsp chilli powder + 1tsp garam masala + 1 tsp turmeric + ½ tsp cumin + ½ tsp nutmeg + ½ tsp ginger (or half fresh piece, grated) + 4 cardamon pods, crushed + pinch salt + bunch coriander (fresh if possible)
1. Heat oil gently in pot, add onions and garlic and pop lid on, allowing to brown while stirring regularly to ensure they’re not burning.
2. Add all spices to small dish, adding oil to create paste. Drop into the pot and stir for about thirty seconds before adding chicken.
3. Seal chicken for about a minute, and then pour in passata (add a half cup of chicken stock if sauce is too thick for you).
4. Reduce heat, allow to simmer for half an hour, then serve with chopped coriander if you’re smarter than me and don’t forget this rather vital ingredient.
Cheats:
Side Dishes: Poppadums and Naan bread are welcome accompaniments, I haven’t seen poppadums in Lidl or Aldi yet (I could just be blind, however), but their Naan bread is very cheap indeed – usually under a euro. Poppadums in Tesco are about €1.70, in Superquinn