Tastes Just Like A Restaurant Chicken Korma

Touchy subject curries - everyone has their favourite restaurant and in it, their favourite dish. There's a kind of curry snobbery amongst the gentle middle classes, much the same as wine foolery. You know the type: "we always use the Star of Ganesh because they always use fresh herbs and their tandoori oven is centuries old and powered by wood from the Ganges. Oh yes, we've tried your restaurant but I didn't think the spices were tempered properly". Aye right. Anyway, I digress. Most of us who reckon they can rattle the pans has had a go at a curry at some stage and some will have got sucked in to the bottomless pit of grinding your own spices and making batches of curry base. Great fun, I say, and well worth it if you are in search of the true taste of the Raj. But sometimes all you want is a comforting chicken korma just the same as the one you get in your local - sweet, unctuous and mildly warming - perfect for a slightly hungover Saturday or an ideal intro to the joy of spice for your children.

I have no doubt that if any of you actually try this, you will like it but will probably say it's not the same as your local take out. But I tell you what, it's delicious, easy to make and not far off the mark. I came upon the basis of this recipe years ago which specified a portion of curry base, which was fine at the time, but since then I have run out and made do without it, using stock in its place, which is good. I also use the excellent Bolst's Mild Curry Powder which in my book is about as good as curry powders get. Excuse the vagueness of the ingredients, you'll know as you go along if you need more or less, but this gives you the general idea. The recipe calls for a tablespoon of Mango Chutney, which goes along with the sweet theory and to be honest, I prefer it in rather than out.

The Fixings
2 x tablespoons ghee or vegetable oil
1 x fresh chicken breast per person
1 x dessert spoon grated fresh ginger
1 x large garlic clove minced
1 x medium onion very finely chopped
1 x dessertspoon of Bolst's Mild Curry Powder
400ml fresh chicken stock (or half a cube in water)
2 x dessert spoons dessicated coconut (or creamed coconut if you don't want the texture
1 x tablespoon good Mango Chutney
2 x tablespoons condensed milk
enough cream to thicken
Freshy chopped coriander leaf

The Prep
Cut the chicken portions into cubes

The Final Act
Heat the ghee or oil in a large pan. Add the onion and sweat until translucent. Add the ginger and garlic and cook for another couple of minutes until softened. Add the curry powder and cook in to the mixture for a couple of minutes, then add the chicken pieces. You don't really want to brown the meat, just seal it. Then add the stock and cook until tender - fifteen to twenty minutes. When you are happy with the chicken add the rest of the ingredients, except for the coriander leaf and cook until thickened. Decorate with your fresh leaf and serve with some Pilau (pilaf?) seasoned rice, the instructions for which I will post later.

Points to consider
This is not a traditional recipe, it is a quick fix and I think carries its head high despite that. If you dont like coconut, then use cream and some ground almonds. If you don't like it too sweet, leave out the condensed milk. I took a while to get used to the idea of Mango Chutney as an ingredient, but in the classical british notion of fruit in curries, I think it adds to the dish, especially if you use a good one like Geeta's with chunky mango and indian seeds. Come to think of it, a few cumin and cardamon or black mustard seeds in there would be good anyway. I have found that this is an excellent introduction to curries for my children as it is sweet(ish) and not too spicy. I have also made it with prawns and it was delicious.