This Easy Chicken & Chickpea Curry was just that. Easy for the cook, easy on the purse strings and easy on the waist line. I counted 11 chicken curries on the website and it really goes to show how versatile curry can be. Although they often have similar ingredients, no two are exactly the same but I usually top the Indian Curry variety with yoghurt and toasted nuts of some description to give a nice cooling effect, extra flavour and added crunch. This version was a brilliant one for a busy weeknight as it cooked in around 40 minutes, was flavour packed and the aromas coming from the kitchen were absolutely sublime. You’re going to love this one!
Prep time: 15 Minutes
Cooking time: 40 Minutes
$$ Medium Budget
Serves 4
Oil for frying
1 large brown onion, roughly chopped
1 long red chilli, roughly chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled
3 cm piece of ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 tbs of medium curry powder (I like to use Clive of India brand)
1 tbs of sweet paprika
1 tsp of turmeric
1 tsp of sea salt
1/2 a cup of water
600gm of chicken thigh fillets, cut into large chunks
2 cups of chicken stock
1 punnet of grape tomatoes, halved (two large whole tomatoes diced, would be fine)
400gm tin of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
3 sprigs of curry leaves (+ extra for garnish), stalks discarded
Juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp of sugar
Cracked black pepper
1/2 a bunch of coriander, roughly chopped
Greek yoghurt to serve
1/2 a cup of toasted sliced almonds
Coriander leaves to garnish (a few micro herbs are a pretty garnish option too)
Steamed Basmati Rice & Roti, Poppadoms or Naan to serve
To prepare the Easy Chicken & Chickpea Curry place the onion, garlic, ginger, chilli, salt and spices in a small food processor or blender with the water and blend until you have a fine paste. Heat a large shallow pan and add a little oil before adding the paste and frying for around 10 minutes on a low heat. You may need to periodically add a little water to prevent it sticking if your are not using a non stick pan. Take care not to burn the spices.
After around 10 minutes add the chopped tomatoes and curry leaves. Stir the curry to combine and cook until the tomatoes start to break down (a few minutes) and then pour in the stock & lemon juice and season with pepper and sugar. Again, stir to combine and bring up to a simmer before adding the chicken pieces. Pop a lid on and simmer on a low to medium heat for around 15 minutes. Remove the lid, stir through the chickpeas and simmer uncovered for another 15 minutes until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce has reduced and thickened. Stir the chopped coriander through the curry a few minutes before serving.
To prepare the curry leaves for garnish heat a little oil in a small frypan. Once the oil is hot, add the curry leaves, taking care as it will spit so if you have a splatter guard, I would recommend using it. This is totally optional but the crispy curry leaves add a beautiful layer of flavour that pops when you manage to nab one in a mouthful. Once they’re crispy, after about 40 seconds, drain them on a plate lined with paper towel.
To serve this very easy chicken curry, divide rice between four bowls. Ladle the curry over the top of the rice, pop on a good dollop of greek yoghurt and scatter over toasted almonds and crispy curry leaves. For a final garnish, lay a few sprigs of fresh coriander on top and serve with Roti, Poppadoms or Naan and a side of greens if you wish.
Curry leaves left over? They can be frozen for later use or you could use them in this…..