Chettinad Chicken Curry – 1sp

A few years ago the hubbie and I but devoured every episode of Rick Stein’s India cooking show. After the series finished, we picked up the accompanying cookbook and we have made a few bits and pieces from it but I can never seem to follow a recipe without tweaking it for myself.

This curry is a twist on Rick Stein’s version of Chettinad Chicken. His version is dry where as we fancied something with lots of spices but still nice and saucy. The result was delicious, and it has become a firm favourite in our house. The ingredients list may look a little long, but most ingredients are store cupboard essentials and it really is quite easy to throw together.

If you can’t find any curry leaves you can leave these out, but they are available in most supermarkets these days and add a lovely authentic taste to the dish, if you can find fresh they are even better!! (FYI – curry leaves are edible but if you don’t like the texture you can push to the side when eating).

If you like curries a little more creamy, feel free to add a little fat free Greek yoghurt to the curry when you add the green beans.

I’ve served this with normal basmati rice (60g portion per person) as well as with pilau grilled cauliflower rice (which is 0sp) and both are lovely options depending on how many points you have left for the day. The curry itself is only 1sp so you can always have a cheeky little naan bread  or some poppadums with it too!

Chettinad Chicken Curry

Serves 4 = 1sp per serving

Ingredients

For the spice blend

½ tbsp each fennel seeds, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, black onion seeds, chilli powder

½ tsp turmeric

For the Curry

1 large onion, peeled and finely sliced

Handful of curry leaves (optional)

3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced

Thumb size piece of ginger, peeled and finely minced

1 chilli, finely chopped (optional)

2 peppers, sliced

1 tbsp tomato puree

400g tin of chopped tomatoes

1 chicken stock cube

800g chicken breast, diced

1 tsp each salt and sugar

Pack of green beans, trimmed and halved

1 tsp cornflour

Small pack of coriander, roughly chopped

Small pot of fat free Greek yoghurt

Method

Start by making the spice mix. Pop all of the ingredients into a pestle and mortar (or a spice grinder if you have one) and grind until you have a very fine powder. It’s essential that you get the spice mix into as fine a powder as possible as you don’t want the finished curry to by ‘bitty’. Pop the spice mix to one side.

Take a large saucepan, spray with 1kal and add the onion and curry leaves. Fry for 8-10 minutes until the onions start to soften and then add the garlic, ginger, chilli, peppers and spice mix. Fry for another 2 minutes.

Add 1 tbsp tomato puree, fry for another minute and then add the tin of tomatoes, chicken stock cube, 400ml boiling water (I measure this out using the tomato tin), salt and sugar. Stir and add the chicken. Stir again and then pop a lid on the pan. Simmer for 15-20 minutes (until the chicken is cooked through).

After 15 minutes of simmering pop the rice on to cook according to the packet instructions).

Once the chicken is cooked through, add the green beans to the curry and simmer, lid off for 5 minutes until they are al dente. Mix 1 tsp cornflour with a small splash of cold water to make a paste. Add to the curry and simmer for another 5 minutes (this will help the curry thicken up). Finally add the coriander to the curry, stir through and take off the heat.

Serve the rice with the curry on top and a dollop of yoghurt. Enjoy!