Chicken and Coconut Curry

I know it is not baked and it is not sweet, sorry if that is a shocker people. Normally I stick with the sweet baked treats but just lately my allergy boy has started becoming much more adventurous and less fussy so I thought I would start sharing a few of his favourite meals with you.

This curry recipe is pretty simple, it is more about flavour than heat but it is very adaptable, you can add some chilli if you like, throw in some sweet potato and maybe some spinach, whatever floats your “curry boat” as they say. My boy is allergic to beans and lentils etc but I happen to know that chickpeas make a lovely veggie version.

Basically I do a quite simple version when the boys are eating with some chicken, yellow raisins and I chuck lots of extra coriander onto my own plate when I serve. Below is the basic recipe, please feel free to “customise”.

Chicken and Coconut Curry

• 2 tbsp oil (I use sunflower)
• 2 large onions, red or white, chopped
• 2 or 3 cloves of garlic, sliced or crushed
• salt and pepper
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• the crushed seeds from 3 cardamom pods
• 4 large chicken breasts, cubed
• 400 ml/14 fl oz tin coconut milk
• 1/2 tin water
• 1 stock cube (I use beef because all others have potato starch but chicken would be ideal)
• big handful of yellow/golden raisins (whatever you think)
• bunch of coriander (cilantro), roughly chopped
• juice of half a lemon

1. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat.
2. Add the chopped onion and garlic and season with salt and pepper. Give it a good stir and put the lid on for about five  minutes until softened stirring occasionally.
3. Once the onions have softened remove the lid and add the spices stirring to coat the onions. Add the chicken and keep stirring occasionally until you have “sealed” the outside but it doesn’t need to be cooked through.
4. Next add the coconut milk, water, stock cube, raisins and half of the coriander and keep the curry bubbling away gently on a medium (ish) heat. Now put your rice on to cook.
5. Keep an eye on the curry stirring every now and then until it has thickened slightly and all the chicken is cooked though. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice, check for seasoning and serve. Add more coriander to the plated curry if the kids are not keen. Serve with the rice.