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I like making food that I can spend 15 minutes on and then leave for 1 or 2 hours while I get other things done. The Lamb Shank recipe and this one are exactly that. This chicken curry recipe will serve 3-4 people and is good for the next few days if refrigerated. Jackie is obsessed with this curry She makes top quality Basmati rice to go with this but I haven’t included that recipe as you can have it over any rice or even mash or toast.

What you’ll need:

• Frying pan
• Chopping Board
• Chopping Knife
• Handheld Grater
• Large Plates
• Large Spoon
• Side plate

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 tablespoon Butter
• 250ml Cream
• 100ml of Plain Bulgarian Yoghurt
• 4 Chicken Thighs
• 2 level tablespoons flour
• 1 tall teaspoon Chicken Spice
• 250ml Chicken Stock
• 1.5 Yellow Onions
• 3 Garlic pieces
• Small piece of whole Ginger
• 4 (tinned) whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon tomatoe puree
• 1 level teaspoon Coriander
• 1 level teaspoon Cumin
• 1 normal teaspoon Tumeric
• 1 shake of Cinnamon
• 1 tall teaspoon Rajah Curry Powder (Mild or Hot)
• 1 small Bay Leaf
• 6 whole Cloves
• Salt
• Pepper

Method:

We’ll prep the stuff to save time. Chop the 1.5 white onions finely on the board. Grate the 3 cloves of garlic and the piece of ginger (about the size of a small garlic clove) on the board. Chop the 4 peeled tinned tomatoes also on the board. Next you create your spice plate. Measure out all your spices (Coriander, Cumin, Tumeric, Cinnamon, Curry Powder) onto a small side plate.

Take the chicken thighs out. Grind some salt and pepper over them on each side. Add the flour and the chicken spice to a plate. Rub the chicken thighs in this flour/spice mixture on the plate and make sure it’s all covered (KFC style). Boil some water in the kettle and get your Chicken Stock ready (I use a coffee mug for it). The stock seems to control the intensity so make it stronger/weaker to suit your taste.

Put the frying pan on the stove and set to full power. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and the pieces of butter (I’ve heard by mixing butter and oil it prevents the butter from burning and you get better flavour and browning). Place the 4 pieces of chicken into the pan and turn every now and then until all sides are brown. The flour and spice mixture should help the skin to crisp up, it’ll also leave lots of bits/flavour in the pan once finished. Once the chicken is done take the pieces off an put on a plate. Move the pan off the heat. Turn the stove down to 4 (my full was 6).

It’ll take the stove a while to cool down so at this point I throw in the onions, grated garlic/ginger into the still hot oil/butter/chicken grits mixture – add the remaining oil to this mix. Fry them for a few minutes and eventually move back onto the stove set to 4. Make sure the spice plate is handy at this point. Now throw in the chopped tomatoes and puree. Mix it with the onions and then throw the spice mixture in, keep stiring. Throw in the yoghurt and keep stiring. After 30 seconds throw the chicken pieces back in, mix them into the paste. Within 30 seconds throw in the chicken stock and turn the heat down to 3 (just above a simmer). As it heads down to 3, stir in the stock and add your cloves and bay leaf. Add a few grindings of salt and pepper now (I sometimes throw in about 8 green peppercorns if I have them handy but not required). Finally throw in the 250ml cream into the pan and mix everything up.

By now the chicken thighs should be half covered in liquid. So now set your timer to 1 hour (if the thighs are large then add 20 mins or so). Make sure the temperature is just above a simmer (for me it’s level 3) and now you leave the thighs to cook in this liquid. Turn the chicken pieces over every 20 minutes or so. I don’t like putting a lid on because I like the sauce to reduce a bit and thicken but each to their own. Serve the chicken on a bed of rice and spoon the sauce over.