Servings: 6 · Prep Time: 25 mins · Cooking Time: 20 mins
Total Time: 45 mins

Dinner

This was shown to me by our Sri Lankan friend Manjula Samarasinghe who makes it regularly for her family. It is quick to make especially if you have a nutribullet or a SlenderBlender or similar to grind the spices and make a paste. You can use ready ground spices to make it quicker still. Manjula uses a jointed chicken for flavour but for speed, skinless chicken breasts are perfect. I have also made this curry with 400g mushrooms or green beans for a vegetarian version; it's so versatile. The curry freezes well in so do double the quantity for batch cooking. Freeze any leftover curry leaves for another day.

Ingredients

  • Chicken Breasts (4 chopped and skinless)
  • Onion
  • Coriander Seeds (2 tbsp)
  • Fennel Seeds (1 tsp)
  • Cumin (1 tsp)
  • Salt (1tsp)
  • Vinegar (1 tbsp)
  • Chilli Powder (1 tsp)
  • Turmeric (1 tsp)
  • Ground Black Pepper (2 tsp)
  • Garlic (5 cloves)
  • Ginger (15g)
  • Ghee or coconut oil (3 tbsp)
  • Curry Leaves (10 optional)
  • Coconut Milk (400ml)
  • Coriander (to garnish)

Method

Toast the coriander, cumin and fennel seeds in a saucepan over a medium high heat, shaking the pan frequently, until they are just browned and smell amazing. It will take around 3 minutes to do this. Transfer the spices to a spice grinder, nutribullet or pestle and mortar (keep the pan). Grind them to a powder and tip into a mixing bowl. Add the salt, chicken, vinegar, turmeric, chilli and pepper and stir through to coat.

If you used a nutribullet, blitz the garlic, ginger and onion in it until roughly chopped. If you don't have one, chop or grate the vegetables. Heat the ghee in the saucepan over a medium heat and add the onion, garlic, ginger and curry leaves. Fry for 3 to 4 minutes until they start to stick to the pan, stir frequently.

Add the chicken and stir through, letting it fry in the paste for 3 minutes until seared all around. Pour in the coconut milk and rinse out the can with a splash of water, add this too. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through, around 15 minutes is usually fine, depending on the size of the pieces. Test a large piece by cutting it in half to make sure it is no longer pink inside. Taste the curry and adjust it to your taste with salt, pepper or chilli as necessary.

Cool the curry and divide into portions. Freeze in small vacuum bags or plastic boxes with a lid for up to 3 months. Defrost before use and reheat in the microwave or saucepan until piping hot. Serve with cauli-rice and scatter over the coriander.
Per serving: 2.7g net carbs, 0.4g fibre, 25.3g protein, 11.3g fat, 219kcal