A chicken dinner is perfect any day of the week. Bord Bia is encouraging everyone to explore how nutritious, delicious, and infinitely versatile chicken is, with a range of recipes featuring our favourite bird.
This curry dish is easy to prepare and guaranteed to be a popular choice for a winter evening meal.
Indian chicken curry with pilaf rice
Serves four.
Ingredients
450g boneless, skinless chicken thighs, each one trimmed and cut into approximately six pieces
3 tablesp rapeseed or olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
5cm piece fresh ginger, grated
Seeds from 6 green cardamom pods
1 teasp ground coriander
1 teasp ground turmeric
1 teasp garam masala
1 teasp chilli powder
300ml passata
200ml stock or water
2 small cinnamon sticks
160ml coconut milk
Salt and ground black pepper
For the pilaf rice
25g butter
1 medium onion, peeled and finely diced
1 small cinnamon stick
Seeds from 4 cardamom pods
2 cloves
1 teasp ground turmeric
0.5 teasp salt
2 bay leaves
250g basmati rice
500 ml boiling water
To serve
Fresh coriander and naan bread and salad
Method
In a large frying pan, heat a little oil over a medium heat. Add the chicken and allow to brown. Remove to a dish while you cook the onion. Add a little more oil to the pan then add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 10 minutes. Stir in the garlic and ginger, and fry, stirring occasionally, for another one minute. Add the cardamom seeds, coriander, turmeric, and chilli powder. Cook for another minute, stirring all the time.
Then add back the chicken along with passata, stock or water, and the cinnamon sticks. Season with salt and black pepper. Bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture thickens, and the chicken is cooked. This will take about 20 minutes. Add the coconut milk and the garam masala and heat gently.
Meanwhile, cook the rice. Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan. Add the diced onion, cinnamon stick, cloves, cardamom seeds, turmeric, salt, and bay leaves. Cover with a lid and cook on a low heat for five to 10 minutes until the onions are very soft but not brown, stirring occasionally.
Add in the basmati rice and stir to coat the rice in the onions and spices. Pour in the boiling water and bring back to the boil. Cover with a lid and turn the heat right down. Continue cooking for eight minutes or until all the water is absorbed.
Remove from the heat and allow the rice to steam, with the lid on, for five minutes.
To serve, remove the bay leaves and cinnamon sticks from the curry and the rice. Sprinkle chopped coriander leaves over the curry and serve with the rice and warm naan bread.
