Simple chicken curry

Nothing takes away the weekday blues like a fragrant curry. The intense aroma, the soft heat spreading slowly across your tongue and tickling your throat is enough to make anyone forget about a long day at the office.

I know making curry sounds intimidating. All the different spice combinations and foreign sounding ingredients are enough to give any confident cook a serious case of self-doubt. But the truth is that once you know what combination of spices to use, you can make an enormous amount of different curries by varying some of the other ingredients.

I made curry for the first time tonight, so I decided to keep it as simple as possible. This recipe is practically foolproof so have at it!

Simple chicken curry
Serves 4 people

750 g chicken breast fillets, cut into pieces
3 tbsp Canola oil
1 large onion, thinly sliced
1 stick of cinnamon
salt
1 tbsp chutney


3 fresh tomatoes, skinned and chopped
200 ml chicken stock
175 g yoghurt
1 small handful of chopped fresh coriander
extra coriander for garnishing

Spice mixture
1 tsp curry powder
1 tsp turmeric
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin

Put the chicken pieces in a bowl and add the spice mix to it. Mix until the chicken pieces are coated and cover with cling film.

Heat up the oil in a heavy based saucepan. Add the onions and slowly cook until they are soft and golden. Add the cinnamon and allow the aroma to infuse with the onions. Add the chicken, season with salt and allow to cook for 10 minutes.

Once the chicken looks cooked on the outside, add the tomatoes and chicken stock and allow to gently simmer for 30 minutes with the lid on but slightly ajar. Add the coriander 10 minutes before serving.

Add the yoghurt once the heat has been turned off and the curry has had some time to cool down. Do not add the yoghurt when the dish is too hot. Believe me, it will split like a dysfunctional couple who has had too much tequila.

Garnish with a few sprigs of fresh coriander and serve with rice.