A Simple Curry in a Hurry: Chicken Tikka Masala with Minty Yoghurt Raita

Just when we think Winter has gone for another year, another cold snap surprises us, and believe me, in the Tropics a minimum of 4 degrees has us snuggling, reaching for comfort food, and dreaming of a curry. Curries though can be high calorie, and at my stage of life I need to watch the calories in between celebrations.  This curry is a low calorie one, taken and adapted from Dr. Michael Mosley's suite of low calorie recipes, apparently this one only serves up 427 calories, not too bad eh? If you are not watching your calorie intake though, just add lots of different condiments and plenty of rice, because my friends  this curry isn't lacking in flavour or appeal in anyway. We are growing fresh ginger, chillies, mint and silverbeet, perfect for this meal,  so I have harvested these fresh from my garden for this recipe. And if you make your own yoghurt, use it in this dish and the raita, it will be perfect.

If you are a little time poor,  marinating the chicken  can be done the night before, so that it can be quickly cooked the following day. I also made the masala sauce earlier in the day so that it could cool well before  blitzing it with a hand blender.

This recipe serves 2 people however I double the ingredients so that we can enjoy it again a couple of days later and it will taste even better as curries improve in flavour.... (Just adapt the quantities easily to serve more people at your table)

Ingredients prepared and ready to start cooking. Chicken is already marinating in the fridge.

  Ingredients for Chicken Tikka Masala:

(Recipe for Raita is below this one)

1 tbsp tikka curry paste (a good quality one)
4 tblsp full-fat yoghurt, Greek or whatever you have on hand
2 boneless and skinless chicken breasts (around 350g) cut into roughly 3 cm chunks
1 tbsp coconut or canola oil (I used coconut)
fresh coriander, to serve
1/2 red chilli, sliced to serve (optional)

Ingredients for the Masala Sauce:

1 tbsp coconut or canola oil (I used coconut)
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
15g fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
2 tbsp tikka curry paste
1 tbsp tomato puree

Method:

Combine the curry paste, yoghurt and 2 generous pinches of sea salt in a bowl. Add the diced chicken and mix until well coated in the marinade. Cover and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour, preferably longer or even overnight.

Make the curry sauce. Add the onion and fry gently for 5 minutes, or until softened, then stir in the garlic, ginger and tikka curry paste and cook for 1 1/2 minutes or more. Pour 300ml water into the pan, stir in the tomato puree and bring to a simmer. Cook for 5 minutes, then remove the pan from the heat and use a hand blender to blitz the sauce. (I would try and make the curry sauce at least 30 minutes in advance so that it can cool slightly before attacking it with your stick blender or it might splatter.  If you don't have a stick blender you can leave out the blitzing, however the sauce just won't be smooth and creamy. )Set aside.

Heat the remaining oil (1 tbsp), in a large non-stick frying pan over a medium-high heat and fry the marinated chicken for 3 minutes or until lightly browned, turning regularly.



Add the prepared sauce to the pan and bring to a  simmer. Cook for 3-4 minutes, or until the chicken is thoroughly cooked, stirring constantly. Add a splash of water if the sauce thickens too much.

 Sprinkle with coriander and chilli if using, to serve.

Steamed silverbeet freshly picked from our garden

Serve with steamed greens, brown rice or Australian buckwheat, and with a portion of Minty Yoghurt Raita.

Minty Yoghurt Raita

This Serves 4

Ingredients:

1/3 cucumber (around 135 g)
150g full fat live Greek yoghurt
3-4 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

Method:

1. Cut the cucumber in half lengthways  and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Coarsely grate the flesh onto a plate or board and then transfer to a bowl
2. Add the yoghurt and mint, and season with a good pinch of sea salt and lots of ground black pepper. Mix well and leave for 20-30 minutes to allow the flavours to mix and develop.
3. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

This can also be served a s dip, just add 1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped,  if you wish for a bit more zing.

Our dinner, Chicken Tikka Masala, steamed silverbeet, Minty yoghurt raita, and cooked Australian buckwheat. Much better than takeaway and easier on the wallet.



We are living a fairly simple existence at the moment, enjoying some gardening,  reading, cooking and eating, walking Locky our new dog,  and occasionally playing some tennis and mahjong. I hope you are finding time to relax and enjoy the simple things in life as well.

Take care and stay nice.

Pauline

xx