jamie oliver's cornershop curry
A dead easy weeknight curry recipe you can knock out with common ingredients.
Ingredients
For the chicken and brine:
- 2 chicken breasts
- 1 star anise
- table salt see method
- 1/2 teaspoon turmeric
For the curry sauce:
- 1 tablespoon curry paste whatever you like
- 1 onion
- 2 cloves of garlic
- 4 cm piece of ginger
- 1 large pepper deseeded and diced
- 1 heaped tablespoon mango chutney
- 400 g tinned tomatoes
- 400 g light coconut milk
Instructions
For the brine:
- Cover the chicken with a sheet of greaseproof paper, and bash them to about 2cm thick. Take a bowl deep enough to carry the chicken and put on scales. Fill with water and note the weight. Work out 6% of that weight (I usually shout at Google for the answer) and add that much salt. Add the star anise and turmeric, stir well and submerge the chicken. Leave in the brine between 3 and 6 hours.
For the curry sauce:
- Peel and coarsely grate the onions, garlic and ginger. Put a large non-stick pan on a medium heat with 1 tablespoon of oil and the grated onion, garlic and ginger, stirring regularly.
- After a few minutes add the pepper. Once the veg has softened, stir in the curry paste, followed by the mango chutney. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring regularly to avoid it catching and burning.
- Add the tomatoes, breaking them up with a wooden spoon and scraping up any sticky bits from the base of the pan. Simmer for a few minutes.
- Pour in the coconut milk then simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, or until the consistency of your liking. You may wish to add a splash of water to get it right.
- Drain and pat dry your chicken, discarding the brine ingredients. Either using a grill or frying pan, cook the chicken quickly on both sides over a high heat.
- Remove the chicken to a board and thickly slice. If the chicken isn’t cooked through that's a good thing, as it will finish cooking in the sauce and not be overcooked. Stir the chicken slices into the simmering sauce for the last 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Season the sauce to your liking.
- Serve the curry with rice and / or bread, and extra mango chutney.
Notes
You can sub out the protein for almost anything else, a piece of fish, cauliflower, tofu, seitan, whatever you want. Sub in a hotter paste for more fire in your belly.