Curry in less than 20 minutes? Here’s how.
The recipe featured on Madhur Jaffrey’s ‘Curry Nation’ and was cooked by Mumtaz Khan Akbar of Mumtaz restaurant fame.
No actual recipe was given, so the amounts are guess work
Place the following into a cold wok
– 2 chicken breasts diced or sliced. I often use 3 or 4 chicken thighs instead
– 1 large onion very finely chopped or ‘whizzed’ in a food processor, along with ginger and 4 or 5 garlic cloves and a chilli if you want it hot
– 1/2 a 500g carton of passata
– large pinch of salt
– yogurt – I don’t know how much – I just use a ‘blob’
– 1/2 tsp asafoetida (not essential)
– 1/2 mug cold water.
Turn the wok on, bring to the boil and cook for 5-7 mins on a high heat.
Reduce the heat and add the spices – he used about a dessert spoon – maybe a bit more of basar (you can find basar in good Asian grocers. If you don’t have any, then use about teaspoon each of cumin, coriander, paprika and garam masala) and about half a teaspoon each of turmeric, fenugreek and chilli. Feel free to add more to taste! Also add another ‘blob’ of yogurt and 2 chopped tomatoes. At this point he also added a ladle full of oil! I don’t and the curry’s still fine though probably doesn’t taste quite as good. Lower the heat, cook for another 5 mins and add some chopped coriander just before serving. Feel free to add frozen peas at the end, or frozen spinach or tinned chickpeas when you add the spices.
Note: The amounts of spice are to your personal taste – I often use more than what I’ve said here.
