Chicken, Chickpea & Spinach Curry

This straightforward dish feels like real cooking, somehow.  Pootling about in the kitchen for a while, wearing an apron; sounds of sizzling and amazingly delicious smells wafting through the house.  Even better, the simmering time is sufficient for me to put two cups of basmati rice and a few cardamom pods into the hallowed rice cooker with some water and switch it on for a perfect, no-tears side dish;  my relaxed raita is easily stirred together, leaving me plenty of time for a cheeky pre-prandial while I straighten up the kitchen.  


Chicken, Chickpea & Spinach Curry


3 tbsp cooking oil
a few cloves
a few cardamom pods
2 fresh or 1 dried bay leaf
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, peeled
about an inch of ginger root
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
500g carton passata
150ml carton single cream
400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 tsp garam masala
500g chicken thigh meat, sliced 
250g spinach leaves, washed


Whizz the garlic and ginger, with about 4 tbsp of water, in the blender to make a runny paste.  Heat the fat in a large pan. Add the cloves, cardamom and bay leaves to the pan and sizzle for a few seconds.  Add the the onion and fry until soft but not coloured.  Scrape the garlic-ginger paste into the pan and stir everything together well, then mix in the spices and cook briefly; the smell really is brilliant!  Pour in the passata, add the rinsed chickpeas and swirl in the cream.  Sprinkle in the garam masala, then add the chicken to the pan.  Simmer gently for 30 minutes, stirring only occasionally, then fold the spinach into the curry until wilted.  Serve with rice and a dollop of  raita.  It tastes even better than it smells, believe me.


This curry really does freeze amazingly well; so much so that I often do a double batch, squirrelling half of it away for a future meal.  It's great when you can just defrost a really nice home-cooked evening meal in an emergency!

Cath xx

Tikka Time

Saturday evenings for us, these days, are increasingly ruled by my sons' growing obsession with Doctor Who.  Not terrible, because Hubby and I enjoy watching it with them (even if we do have to tolerate a running commentary on what's happening in the program we. are. watching. too.).  Early evening television means an earlier supper than we might otherwise have and this spicy dish is perfect for a Saturday night, eaten from sticky fingers, noshed without ceremony but with huge enjoyment, before they rush to the sofa for their weekly 'fix'.  Tonight I prepared a bowl of my ever-popular Spiced Potatoes with Spinach, but these wings are just as good with a bowl of rice or a nice green salad.   Cross-culturally, I rather love them with Tzatziki, too, especially leftovers eaten cold for a sneaky snack or a light lunch.

Tikka-Style Wings

I have a Typhoon CrushGrind, (highly recommended) so I grind *these* spices in that before adding them to the whizzer.  Alternatively, crush in a pestle-and-mortar or even substitute 1/2 tsp each of the bought ready-ground spices

12 chicken wings
6 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp cider vinegar
1 1/2 tbsp tomato purée 
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 inch piece ginger root, roughly chopped
5 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
6 cloves*, ground (and see above)
seeds from 8 cardamom pods*, ground (and see above)
tbsp black peppercorns*, ground (and see above)

Put the chicken wings in a large bowl and everything else into a blender or food processor.  Whizz to a fragrant, nubbly paste.  Pour and scrape this over the chicken wings, then turn them really well to coat them completely in the spicy paste-marinade.  You can either cling-film the bowl as it is or, to save space (always important in a family 'fridge), I transfer the whole shebang to a lidded plastic box.  Either way, chill for at least 6 hours or overnight. 

Cook the chicken wings, still coated in the flavour-paste, in a 200°c oven for 40 minutes.  I usually line a roasting pan with foil because any burnt-on paste is a nightmare to wash up!  Serve on a large platter and make sure to provide plenty of kitchen paper and a poubelle de table (aka 'table dustbin') for the discarded bones. Slurp!

Cath xx

Bunking Off in the Garden

Lovely, isn't it? To see the signs of Spring appearing everywhere, to feel warmth from the sun on your bare arms, to hang your laundry out in the breeze and even to be brave enough to eat supper out on the patio... I have been outside for so much of the last couple of weeks, often just sitting and breathing in the glory of nature (hence no posts - sorry about that, I do feel sort of bad). I have attempted to get our little garden in some sort of order and made plans for summer bunting and outdoor picnics (rather than the carpet picnics we have been restricted to for what feels like years, rather than months!).

Tonight's supper was a slightly spicy little number. We ate my version of Keema, a simple spiced meat dish, accompanied by the Spiced Potatoes with Spinach which my boys love so much. It somehow felt so right to be eating it outside.


Spiced Potatoes with Spinach

This, I suppose, is my approximation of the Indian restaurant classic Saag Aloo, which I love, love, LOVE!  Anything with spinach is A-OK with me, especially if the children love it too!

2 tbsp oil
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 bay leaf
1 onion, halved and sliced thinly
2 cloves garlic, minced
2cm piece ginger root, minced
 400g potatoes, cut into 2cm-ish cubes
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp kalonji (AKA black cumin or nigella seeds)
140g bag baby spinach leaves

Heat the oil in a large pan (it needs to be one with a lid).  Frizzle the bay leaf and mustard seeds briefly, then add the onion to the pan and fry until soft.  Stir in the garlic and ginger and fry for a moment more before adding the spices.  Stir well, add the potatoes and then pour in 150ml water and clamp on the lid.  Turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes, then stir the spinach through the potatoes as best you can.  Lid back on, heat back up and cook for 3 minutes or so until the spinach has wilted down.  Try not to eat it all straight out of the pan before serving it (though this is the hardest part of the recipe for me).

Divine with a dollop of raita; my lazy version is here.  Enjoy!

Cath xx

Going Coco-nutty!

This is a lovely, mild and creamy curry for a weekend family supper.  It is quite 'saucy', because we like lots of sauce to soak into our rice, and to mop up with our naan, but you could cut the liquid down a little if you want, I guess.  Creamed coconut is a lovely addition to make to curries when cooking for the children as the sweetness seems to allay any potential tiresome behaviour about 'too spicy' foods.

Coconut Chicken


50g ghee (or butter and a splash of oil)
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
a few cloves
500g chicken, sliced
1 pint milk
1 tsp cornflour mixed with 1 tsp water
100g creamed coconut, chopped

Heat the fat in a large pan (one with a lid!) and fry the onion until soft.  Add the garlic and stir well, then mix in the spices.  The aroma will really hit you sometimes, so be careful with your eyes and that cayenne!  Add the chicken and fry quickly to seal it, then pour in the milk, cornflour-and-water mixture (which will stabilise the milk and prevent it from curdling unappealingly).  Simmer gently for 30 minutes, then stir in the coconut until the sauce is smooth and thickened.

Serve with rice or naan bread, or both in this house.  Yum!

Cath xx

Chatty Chicken

For us, more and more, Friday night is curry night.  It started when, back in 2008, my new year's resolution required me to learn to cook Indian food properly.  Two years later and I still love the sound of spices and bay leaves popping and frizzling in hot oil (or more lately ghee, which I now buy in cans).  I'm not a fan of  super-hot curries, preferring instead the flavour of the spices to really come through, rather than feeling I've been bludgeoned to death with chillies.  I add any extra heat I need with a generous dollop of lime pickle.

Chat (or chaat) masala is a spice mix with a citrussy, slightly sour kick to it.  Masala, in fact, means spice mix while chaat is the verb 'to lick', which I think tells you all you need to know about this mouth-watering, lip-licking blend!  It is available as a ready-mixed blend, but is easy to make, as are many of the Indian spice blends but, as so many are made with ingredients you can find in any reasonably well-stocked spice rack, it seems a good idea to have a bash yourself occasionally.  Having said that, chat masala does really, in the authentic sense, call for things without that range but, living in the sticks as I do, I don't have access to a handy Asian grocer for amchur, asafoetida and black salt; this version is very much my interpretation.  I was given a Typhoon CrushGrind for Christmas but you can use a mortar and pestle; it's not too taxing.

My Chat Masala

This makes enough to make the curry below.  Of course, you can make more and store it in an airtight jar in the cupboard if you want...

1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp coriander seeds
1/2 tsp black peppercorns
2 small dried whole red chillies

Toast these in a dry frying pan until the aromas are released, then grind.  Stir in a pinch each of turmeric, ground ginger and salt.  You can then add a smidgen of cayenne pepper for extra punch if you like.

Chicken Chat

I prefer to use yoghurt in curries for the slightly acidic bite it gives, but find that it can sometimes 'split' during cooking, so I add the cornflour to stabilise it.  Replace it with single cream if you'd rather.

5 tbsp cooking oil or ghee
1 onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2cm piece ginger root, grated
chat masala (see above)
200ml water
1 tsp cornflour
150ml natural yoghurt
6 chicken thigh fillets, halved
150g spinach

Heat the oil or ghee in a deep pan (one which has a lid).  Fry the onion until soft then add the garlic and ginger.  Stir in the chat masala, then pour in the water.  Stir the cornflour into the yoghurt (and see above); add this to the pan too.  Stir well, then add the chicken pieces and cover the pan.  Cook at a simmer for 25 minutes (which gives you time to sort out rice, set the table and pour a well-deserved glass of wine).  Stir in the spinach at the last moment, let it wilt into the sauce, and then serve!

Cath xx

I Feel Like I'm Cheating!

The nights are drawing in and the weather is COLD.  So the time is right to remind myself, and anyone else I can reach out there just how wonderful are these machines, and how much easier they make one's daily life.  If you have yet to discover the delights of the electric slow cooker, may I beg you to please consider it.  Tonight's dinner was prepared this morning while the kids were eating breakfast; all of three minutes' work!

Cheaty Chicken Curry

1 onion, diced
6 chicken thigh fillets, halved
1/3 jar curry paste (I like Patak's Tikka paste)
400g can chopped tomatoes

At breakfast time, bung everything in the slow cooker.  Add 100ml water from the kettle (which you've anyway just boiled to make your cup of tea!), put on the lid and cook on LOW until suppertime.  How easy?

For accompaniments, cooking some rice is hardly taxing, and while I occasionally swirl some yoghurt through the curry just before serving, more often than not I make this lazy raita-style sauce to go with.  It also goes rather well with poppadoms and mango chutney for an almost-instant but still decadent late-night snack...

A Relaxed Raita

200g pot natural yoghurt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 tsp mint sauce (from a jar!)

Mix together.  Chill until needed (you, and the sauce!)

Cath xx

Vegging Out

Earlier this year I set myself an informal challenge; to cook and serve a completely vegetarian meal at least once a week. Not from an ethical viewpoint (I remain a committed multivore), I should add, but rather one of wanting my children to grow up enjoying vegetables for the wonderful foods that they are, rather than as a mere garnish to a slab of meat.

Things have been going well, so recently our veggie nights have upped to twice a week. Tonight was one of those nights, with that in mind I cooked this lovely mushroom dish, ever mindful of keeping to my 2008 resolution, to learn to cook Indian meals properly, rather than relying on jars and packets of sauce, paste and mixes. I understand from Schott's that Karahi is used to refer to dishes that are "dry...with onion, and tomatoes".

Mushroom Karahi

If you want to add another dimension to this dish, then stir in a drained can of chickpeas with the tomatoes, or wilt a handful of spinach in the karahi just prior to serving.

1 large onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 tsp garam masala
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
450g mushrooms, sliced
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes

Heat some oil in a large pan and fry the onion and garlic together until softened. Tip in the spices and cook for a further minute or two, mixing well. Add the mushrooms to the pan, fry for a few moments, stirring well, then tip in the tomatoes. Bring to the boil, then simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Serve with rice and naan bread, with yoghurt to dollop on top if you like. Our family is divided equally into the enthusiastic yoghurt-dollopers (me and James) and the vociferous anti-yoghurt faction (Karl and Chris). There's just no accounting for taste, is there?

Currying Favour

Tonight I tried something new. 'Vegetable curry' was not something I was really expecting to go down terribly well, but I loved the idea of the combination of flavours and textures in this meal, so I decided to be brave and go for it.

Softening the (potential) blow of a totally vegetarian meal was made easier by a first course of a large plate of Potato Bhajias (made according to Madhur Jaffrey's recipe). I then brought the steaming pan of curry to the table and awaited my judgement with bated breath. What a relief! The children positively inhaled it , despite having already gorged themselves on the bhajias. I think Hubby was probably less keen, but he is more of a meat-and-potatoes-man and, give him his dues, his plate was clean.

Vegetable Curry with Red Lentils

I used an organic Tikka Masala curry powder, blended by Steenbergs, which we received in a hamper at Christmas (ta, G+E).

1 small onion, chopped
2 tsp 'lazy' garlic
1 tbsp curry powder (your choice, natch)
100g red lentils
600ml vegetable stock
1 small cauliflower, in florets
1 big carrot, peeled and sliced
100g fine beans, trimmed and halved
2 good handfuls spinach leaves

Heat some oil in a wide pan and cook the onion and garlic together until softened. Add the curry powder and lentils, then pour in the hot stock. Drop in the pieces of cauliflower and carrot, then cover the pan and simmer for 20 minutes. Stir in the beans, then lay the spinach on top of the curry and recover the pan for a further 5-10 minutes. Mix well and serve, with brown rice and condiments. I liked yoghurt and lime pickle with mine, Hub just the former. James wanted lots of mango chutney with his, I think he thinks it's jam. Christopher is still going through his (apparently never-ending) 'suspicious' phase when it comes to added sauces and dressings, so he had his 'as was'.

Saying that, I notice that his wariness doesn't seem to apply to chocolate sauce on ice-cream, nor to custard with puddings...

Going for an English

This year, my resolution was to learn to cook Indian food properly. Not so much in the "lose weight, stop this, stop that" way I know - but I long ago decided that making resolutions that I just know I won't keep is not the best way to start a year. So now I resolve to do things that I've wanted to do for a while. Ticking off goals, if you like.

Tonight I got started. Armed with a copy of Madhur Jaffrey's Simple Indian Cookery, I made her 'Creamy Chicken Korma with Almonds' for our dinner. It was so eay to make and so much fun to do somethng completely new - as a bonus it tasted totally LUSH!

To go with the curry, I did a bowl of plain basmati rice in the rice machine, chopped some cucumber and tomato with a little mint for a side salad and made some naan bread. These I have been making for a while. Even when curry making consisted largely of opening jars, I did do my own naans most of the time. I can't swear to how authentic they are (having not an iota of Indian blood or influence), but they do taste lovely...

Naan Bread (sort of...)

The kalonji, or black cumin, are fairly easily obtained from any shop with a reasonable selection of spices. They may also be labelled 'nigella seed'.

1/2 tsp easy-blend dried yeast

250g white bread flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp kalonji

1 tbsp sunflower oil

3 tbsp plain yoghurt

100ml warm water

Stir all the ingredients together into a roughly combined dough, then knead until smooth and springy. Put the ball of dough into a bowl, cover with clingfilm and put it somewhere warm to double in size. As my kitchen is like a fridge, I switch the oven on - low - before I start, then switch it off and stash the bowl in there for the dough to rise.

When your dough is ready, divide it into four and roll each piece out to an oval, naan bread-ish shape. Put these onto lightly greased baking sheets (you'll need two sheets, two breads on each) and bake at 200°c for 15 minutes until puffy and golden brown. Eat warm, with all sorts of good things.