Curry in a Hurry

I’ve been told before that curry is only good when it is cooked right. This I believe can be said about a lot of things especially when it comes to food. However the curry I made with Chef Shaun Ursall last week was not too bad to say the least. Curry is the sort of dish that requires little money and minimum preparation. Curry can also be cooked in bulk so you can have lots of leftovers to freeze for later on when you know you’ll be busy and looking for something to heat up after a long day. We were fortunate to have some of the ingredients already in our possession; however this should end up feeding about 10 hungry people costing no more than 4 dollars per dish. Here is a list of ingredients we chose for our curry, remember this is just a guideline and you should feel free to ad whatever you like.

Ingredients (makes approximately 6 litres)

1 Eggplant

1 Whole chicken (pre cooked, spiced with rosemary and dill)

1 Red and green pepper

10 Red potatoes

1 cup of peas

6 Roma tomatoes

3 Carrots

2 cups of mushrooms

1 Large Spanish onion

6 Cloves of garlic

1 L of chicken stock (use whatever you have ex vegetable or beef is fine)

1 can of Coconut milk

Dollop of olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

¼ cup of yellow curry powder

1 tablespoon of red curry paste

The Procedure (cooking time approx 1hour)

Start by chopping your vegetables into sizes that you feel comfortable eating. Most men I have noticed like large coarse chunks while women tend to enjoy smaller pieces. (Know who you’re cooking for). Once this is all done start taking the chicken apart for its meat, I suggest saving the bones and skin for chicken stock because it contributes so much flavor to other meals you will make in the future. Once all your prep is done start off by sautéing the onions and mushroom in a large sauce pan. Once these have started to brown it is now time to add other vegetables saving tomatoes, peas, carrots and peppers for last. Let this cook for approximately 10 minutes before you add your chicken stock, coconut milk, yellow curry, curry paste and chicken pieces. I should also add that mincing your garlic as fine as you can allows the garlic to become a part of the sauce and will add some serious flavor. Cook for another 10 minutes or so before adding the rest of your veggies; Add salt and pepper to taste and allow everything to cook together for another 10-15 minutes.

The nice thing about this recipe is that you can eat it like a soup and enjoy a baguette along with it or you can cook up some rice or pasta and use the curry as a sauce. It’s whatever you prefer. I hope you find this recipe useful and that you continue to experiment with recipes and cooking; it’s not only more economical but also an easy way to be a hit at a party or function