Korma Chicken Tray Bake

Images of Green and Gold as an Ode to the World Cup

It was the morning of the World Cup playoffs between Australia and Paraguay, and this Korma Chicken Traybake was an easy Dinner option, as the oven does all the work in your baking dish. I was also thinking Green and Gold for Australia. Just load up the tray, stick it in the oven, and in 30 minutes everyone will be licking their lips in anticipation of an amazing meal. The chicken and rice are baked together with a few vegetables in a spice infused creamy yoghurt which results in an incredibly tasty dish. 

This fuss free Chicken Curry was the perfect solution to craving something spicy and and warming, and embracing the cooler Winter weather that we are loving here in North Queensland. There's no need to stand over a skillet on the stove ensuring that all of the ingredients are simply simmering. When assembled, cover with alfoil and bake for 25 minutes. This is your time to relax. 

We've only been back a few weeks from our overseas vacation in France and Croatia, where the food was absolutely amazing, with an abundance of Mediterranean vegetables, fresh fish, beef and chicken, and well the pastries, they had the wow factor. So with not having eaten a curry for a couple of  months, and as we are now home enjoying a tropical Winter, it was time for a curry. 

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 chicken breast fillets

2 tbsp Korma curry paste (choose the level of heat you prefer)

1 cup (200g) basmati rice

1 cup coconut milk

1 1/2 cups (375ml) chicken stock

1 stem of curry leaves, leaves picked off (I used two stems)

1/2 cauliflower, cut into small florets, or small broccoli pieces to be on theme

200g green beans, trimmed

1 red onion, thinly sliced

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp brown sugar for chicken traybake

2 tsp caster sugar for red onion pickle

(I also used a zucchini cut into small pieces in the curry and 1/2 cup green peas. Extra vegetable is good, but this is optional. )

 Mint yoghurt

1/2 cup (140 g) Greek-style yoghurt

1/4 cup finely chopped mint

Method:

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Combine the chicken and curry paste in a large bowl, smothering the fillets all over with the paste, and add the brown sugar.

Spread the rice evenly over the base of a large roasting pan. Pour over the coconut milk and the stock.

Spread  the curry leaves over the surface of the rice.

Place the chicken pieces and the cauliflower or broccoli over the rice and nestle them into the rice. Add the peas.

Cover with alfoil, and bake for 25 minutes. 

Remove the alfoil and if you are using beans, arrange them around the chicken mixture in the pan.

Bake the dish for another 5-10 minutes until the chicken and beans are cooked, and the rice is tender.

Cover the dish again with alfoil, carefully, as it is hot. 

Leave it stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Red Onion Pickle:

Place the onion, red wine vinegar, caster sugar and salt into a small bowl and stir to  combine.

Set bowl aside for 10 minutes to soak. Drain well.

Mint Yoghurt

Place the mint and yoghurt in a separate bowl. Stir well until combined. Season lightly.

To serve, I love adding lots of extra bits and pieces for more texture, flavour and fun. Drizzle the mint yoghurt over the chicken mixture in the baking tray. Sprinkle with the red onion. Slice some cucumber on a side plate, add some crunchy papadums and some mango chutney (my favourite) or another fruit chutney of your choice. Roti and Naan bread are also delicious, and along with steamed green vegetables you will have created a banquet. They will all be delicious accompaniments. However a simple approach also works beautifully.

Leftovers will keep in the frig for 3 days, and can be frozen minus the yoghurt and the red onion, for up to 3 months, so why not make a double batch.

How do I know the rice will cook properly in the oven?

Just ensure the liquid is distributed evenly through the rice in the pan. Add the coconut milk first and stir through, then stir through the chicken stock. If you leave the dish to rest covered for 10 minutes at the end of cooking, the rice will soak up any excess liquid. 

Cook's notes: 

1. How many chicken breasts you choose depends on their size. Some are larger than others, so if you can only buy the large ones, cut them in half.
2. I've baked this dish a couple of times, the first time I stuck to this recipe using the vegetables listed. The next time, I used finely chopped eggplant (aubergine) because I love it, broccoli florets, sliced zucchini and green peas. I baked the eggplant separately  in the oven while the chicken was cooking just to ensure it was well cooked and then I added it for the last 5-10 minutes in the oven. It was delicious. I love eggplant in an Indian style curry, don't you?
3. You can be quite versatile with the vegetables you use, that is the beauty of this traybake.
4. I am loving making Mint Yoghurt and using mint as often as I can, as in Winter mint grows well in our garden. Can you really have too much mint?
5. I used chicken breast fillets here because they are what I had in the freezer, however chicken thigh fillets will also cook beautifully.

Australia has been riding a massive green-and-gold World Cup Wave as the Socceroos advance to the knock out stages of the World Cup. We are not regular soccer fans in this house, however you would have to be living under a rock to not know that the Socceroos only needed to tie with Paraguay to advance to the knock out stages.  And they did. We watched the game, but I found it challenging as nobody scored, and it seemed obvious that a tie was all that was needed. I baked this chicken curry dish on the morning of the World Cup and the green and gold theme was an ode to the World Cup for a bit of fun. Sometimes it is nice to cook on theme.

Warm wishes,

Pauline