Chicken & Spinach Curry

I was at the library the other day and came across a book called 50 Great Curries of India by Camellia Panjabi. It had lots of great photos in it with clear instructions, as well as descriptions and photos of all the ingredients you would be likely to use in Indian cuisine. A brief history is also given of Indian cooking and the variations between the different regions. I loved the big, glossy photos as I really like being able to visualise the recipes. My mouth was watering as I was glancing though the book. So I tucked it under my arm with firm intentions of cooking a curry that night.

It was really hard to decide which one to make. Some interesting recipes...Watermelon Curry for example, which is a summer curry, along with the more familiar curries like Rogan Josh and Pork Vindaloo. And of course, recipes for all the side dishes and breads. What is an Indian meal with some type of roti to mop up all that yummy juice so I settled on chapatis first

I really wanted to make the Chicken Cooked with Lentils and Vegetables but I didn't have all the ingredients so decided to make just a "Simple Homestyle Curry" that Camellia recommends as being very easy and delicious. As a PS, I went and bought all the ingredients for the previous dish and made it last night. It was divine and gobbled up so fast, there wasn't even time to take photos!! In fact, everyone was scrapping over who was going to get the last bit of juice in the bottom of the dish!! I served the Simple Homestyle Curry with basmati rice and the chapattis that were so easy to make.

I will definitely be purchasing this book, and I see she has a more recent edition out. I would be interested in knowing which are some of your favourite Indian cookbooks?

Simple Homestyle Curry
2 chicken breast fillets (or whatever meat you want)
4 tbsps oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ inch square piece of fresh ginger, chopped
¾ tsp coriander powder
pinch of turmeric
¼ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp garam masala
1 tsp paprika
2 tomatoes, chopped
salt
chopped coriander to garnish

Heat oil in pan. Add onion and saute over medium heat for about 20-25 mins or until deep brown.

Add garlic and ginger and fry for 1 minute. Add coriander powder and stir for a further minute.Add remainder of spices and saute for 30 seconds. Add 1 cup of water and cook for 10 minutes.

Add tomatoes and cook for a further 5 minutes. Add salt to taste.

Add chicken. I also added spinach. Add 1-2 cups of water, depending on how thick you like your curries, and cook for further 15 mintes.

Sprinkle with chopped coriander leaves.


Chapatis
1 cup chapati flour or wholemeal flour
⅓ cup warm water
2 tsps oil

Mix all ingredients together to make a dough. I used my stand mixer with the dough hook. Mix for about 8 minutes as this will make the final product softer in texture.

Preheat griddle or pan to a high heat. Break into 12 balls and roll out on floured surface. They should stretch to a thin pancake about 6 inches in diameter.

Cook until brown spots appear, then flip chapati over til the other side is cooked.

Moroccan Chicken with Couscous & Moroccan Bread

Today was one of those days where I had lots of things to do, so really did not want to spend a lot of time and effort with the evening meal. I had a cycle ride planned for about 4pm so the last thing I would want to do would be thinking about dinner when I got home from that all beet red and sweaty. I knew I only had a meat selection of chicken, chicken or chicken, so chicken won out and I settled on a crockpot recipe that could simmer away all day and look like I had been slaving for hours! Whip up some couscous to go with it and what a tasty meal.

Well, the cycling got cancelled as Tony had to work late which meant I had no-one to look after the kids, so what is a bored foodie to do. I know, let's whip up some Moroccan bread as well. Trusty old Google came to the rescue and I found several great recipes. The one I liked best was an easy looking bread called Authentic Moroccan Bread

So I threw all the ingredients in my stand mixer (which is all of about 2 weeks old I might add), went out and fed the hens and the rabbits and when I came back in about 5 minutes later, my poor old mixer had smoke coming out of the top and was kaput!!! So the easy bread making session I had envisaged turned into hard slog with me kneading dough for about 10 minutes! Crikey, it felt like my arms were going to fall off. Anyway, it turned out fantastically. Bread kneading is a good way of dealing with life's frustrations!! Take that and that!!!!

I had made No Knead Spelt Bread a few days ago and this was divine. Well, the kids reckon this bread comes a close second!!

So the chicken recipe I chose was one by Simon and Alison Holst out of their book Year Round Recipes for Crockpots & Slow Cookers A great book that has a good variety of easy to make and tasty recipes. I just made some simple couscous to go with it...adding chicken stock, lemon juice, currants and a knob of butter. Easy peasy, but yummy!

Moroccan Chicken
1kg chicken pieces or large chicken chunks
2 tbsp plain flour
3 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
zest and juice of 1 lemon
2 tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Chop the chicken if using chicken chunks and coat with flour. Heat 1tbsp of oil in large frypan and cook chicken until golden brown on all sides. Transfer into crockpot.

Put onion and garlic into small food processor and chop finely. add remaining oil, tomato paste, spices and salt and process until a thick paste is formed.

Zest the lemon and add this and the juice to the paste and pulse to combine.

Spoon the paste over the chicken, and turn to coat. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-5 hours.

Garnish with fresh chopped coriander