Wednesday 3 June 2009

Chicken curry, "Indian" style

Walking through my local supermarket earlier today I picked up a bunch of free recipe folders, you know the kinds that different brands make to show you what fantastic dishes you can make by using their products. I love these little free cookbooks! I can never afford to buy my own cookbooks, they are way too expensive, and anyway I usually get one of two new ones to add to my collection for my birthday and for Christmas, so really, there's no reason for me to buy cookbooks. No reason other than that I love cookbooks. But the truth is I very seldom cook anything from them, especially not if the cookbook's got a glossy cover and a nice picture on the front and are not adapted to everyday cooking. Normally I find most cookbooks too complicated, and quite frankly, quite uninspiring. This, I know, is very contradicting. What I love about cookbooks is the sense of knowing that I have them, that if I one day fall down and hurt my head and on a whim decide to cook something utterly complicated I have cookbooks to back up my crazy idea. You know what I mean? I also love reading them, I love looking at all the pretty photos, and I love seeing them on my shelf. (Without my Jamie Oliver, Nigella and Tina cookbooks I'd be lost).

Ok, let's get back on track... where was I? Oh yes, the free recipe folders I picked up at the supermarket today. In one of them, "Så enkelt - og så godt!" from Tine, I found the recipe for today's dinner - Chicken curry. Actually, the original recipe calls for shrimps and some other things I kind of over-looked at first glance, which resulted in my adaptation of the dish. (I did not over-look the shrimp/chicken thing, but some other stuff- I'm not that absent-minded!)

Oh yes, this recipe did not only give me the best food experience I have had in a while, it also taught me how to cook with yogurt without it curdling.

This is how you prevent the yogurt from curdling when added to hot food:
For every 3 dl of yogurt, add 1 tbsp of all-purpose flour. Mix it together by using a hand blender. This will make the yogurt more watery, but it will also keep the yogurt from curdling, which is the main thing.

Now to the main recipe.

Chicken curry
Serves 4

4 chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 ½ tbsp spicy curry powder
10 sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
100-150 g frozen wok vegetables
2 dl water
1 tbsp all-purpose flour
3 dl yogurt
1 tsp salt
1 tsp ketchup
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp sambal oelek, or spicy chili sauce

1. Heat vegetable oil in a large pan, or wok. Sauté the onion and garlic until soft and translucent. Stir in the curry powder, and allow to heat through. Add in the sun-dried tomatoes, wok vegetables, water and the chicken. Cook until the chicken is almost done

2. Mean while, mix the yogurt with the flour, as described above. Stir in the mix little at a time to ensure further that is does not curdle. Also add in the salt, ketchup, sugar, and sambal or chili sauce.

3. Simmer for 3-5 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and some freshly ground pepper.

4. Serve with rice, naan-bread or poppadoms/papads, and a dollop of yogurt, if it's too spicy for you.

På svenska
Kyckling curry på "indiskt" vis

No comments: