A Tale of Two Kormas - Creamy Chicken Korma

 

Whilst we all know that the quickest way to a man's heart is a six inch knife through the chest; the other, less gruesome way is through his stomach. In fact, the wooing of Phill involved, amongst other things, some carefully selected and cooked meals - lasagne, beef stroganoff, croissant bread and butter pudding, all of which I don't believe I have ever blogged about and maybe, right there, lies a series of themed posts for Valentine's Day. Anyway, one night, very early in our fledgling relationship, he told me that a) he likes cooking and b) he cooks a mean korma. The description he then gave was quite mouth watering: you have to start the day before because it is such a complex process, it involves rendering a pound on onions down to almost nothing, yadda yadda yadda...

 

Nearly 13 years on, I am yet to taste this korma.

 

He mentions it every so often, usually when I am making curry and he comes wandering into the kitchen, enticed by the heady smells of herbs and spices, gets a spoon out the drawer, tastes the sauce I am cooking and gives the 'quality control' verdict, but he has never got round to making me his korma, which has taken on mythical proportions since it was first mentioned all those years ago. He does cook on occasions - he once made steak pizzeola, which tasted absolutely lush but my enthusiasm was dampened a little when I realised he had used every plate, dish and bowl in the kitchen to create his masterpiece and I was in charge of washing up...  But he can cook, but never the dish I thought he might cook...

 

Which brings me to this korma. This is from Neven Maguire's 'Food from the Sun'. He is an Irish chef who I discovered whilst on maternity leave, watching the 'GoodFood' channel in the afternoon, drifting in and out of consciousness whilst I had a plus 9lb baby writhing inside me who kept waking me up,,,(thank you Finn). I remember that I liked his kitchen and I liked the dishes he created, so I bought his book and have cooked from it here and here.

 

He calls this an authentic korma - to be honest I wouldn't know. What I do know is that it is pretty easy, does not involve a pound of onions and I did not have to start the day before. In fact, start to finish it took about an hour. It's a very comforting dish and Lola and Finn really like it, despite the touch of latent heat it exudes, just when you think it is only going to give flavour. I might use it as a lever to try and get Phill to make a korma...

 

Creamy Chicken Korma - adapted from 'Food from the Sun' by Neven Maguire

 

Serves Lola, Finn, Mum, Dad and one other

 

Ingredients:

 

 

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, finely chopped (I used three - I like an oniony curry)

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp finely grated root ginger

1 green chilli, seeded and chopped finely 

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp ground turmeric

1/4 tsp chilli powder

400g can chopped tomatoes

1 tsp tomato puree

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

150ml double cream (or to taste - you might need more, depending on how far down you have reduced the sauce)

2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Method:

 

 

 

Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions and garlic until for about 10 minutes until golden brown. Stir in the ginger and green chilli, and cook for 1 minute, stirring.

 

 

 

Add the garam masala to the pan with the turmeric, chilli powder and a pinch of salt and cook for another minute, stirring. Add the tomatoes, tomato puree and bring to the boil stirring continuously.

 

 

 

Add four tablespoons of water, (actually - I added about 150ml of water and a chicken stock cube at this point) stir well to combine, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 - 15 minutes until the sauce is well reduced.

 

 

 

Cut the chicken into 2.5cm (1in) cubes and then add to the reduced down sauce. Slowly bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for about 10 - 15 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through and completely tender.

 

 

 

Stir in the cream and simmer gently for another few minutes until well combined. Season to taste.

 

 

View on Instagram here

 

To serve, arrange the basmati rice and chicken korma on warmed plates and scatter over the coriander.

 

Got Turkey Mince? Make Masala Meatballs

...and if you have chicken mince you could make them too. In fact, the original recipe by Neven Maguire calls for chicken mince but it isn't crucial to use it, as turkey also carries these Asian flavours well.

I think if there is any type of cuisine that Lola and Finn need convincing about, it is anything that has an Asian/Eastern influence about it and I can kind of understand that because the flavours I think call for a quite mature palate. I think once you get away from Korma or Passanda, feeding 'curry' (for want of a better term) gets more difficult as the flavours become more about spice and often heat, rather than unctuousness and delicate flavour. As is often the case, I did find myself letting this sauce out with cream for the children once I had served mine and Phill's, as this sauce packs quite a punch. It's tasty for sure but does possess more heat than you might expect. But, I like to introduce Lola and Finn to new flavours and despite the sizeable dollop of cream I placed in at the end of the cooking process, Lola and Finn were able to sample the tasty zinginess of this recipe. And it was meatballs after all. My kids love meatballs.

Obviously, this isn't just a kid thing. I am not a fan of curries that need to be served and eaten with something akin to asbestos gloves and a welding mask so should you decide to make this, and you should because it is lovely, then you may to be ready to tone things down at the end, either with cream or natural yoghurt, if heat isn't your thing. Or be restrained with the chillies; the original recipe said three, but I added two.

I changed the cooking of this recipe slightly in that I am not a fan of mince that hasn't been browned. I was concerned that the poaching of the meatballs in the sauce might make the look a bit insipid and unappetising, so once I had made them, I placed them in the oven initially to colour them before I put them into the sauce. As it is, the sauce is a rich colour which does seem to cling to the meatballs and so that 'greyness' of unbrowned meat wouldn't be so apparent.

Seasoning. I know too much salt is bad for you but eating unseasoned turkey mince is like eating damp cotton wool. You need to be prepared to put more than you might like, or expect, into the meatball mix for the meatballs to taste of anything.

Lastly, these meatballs are tasty little morsels should you get the seasoning right. I think these would be great little appetisers to serve with an Indian beer before getting down to a main course.

Masala Turkey Meatballs, adapted from Neven Maguire's recipe in 'Home Chef'

Serves Mum. Dad. Lola and Finn generously.

Ingredients:

For the meatballs:

1lb chicken (I used turkey) mince

2 tsp freshly ground ginger

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 small onion, peeled, grated and squeezed dry

2 tbsp chopped coriander

salt and freshly ground pepper

For the sauce:

4 tbsp sunflower oil

1 tsp cumin seeds

2 whole cloves

1 bay leaf

2 onions, peeled and roughly chopped

4 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped

1/4 pint passata

3 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped (I used two and the sauce was hot)

2 tsp freshly grated root ginger

1 tsp garam masala

2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp tandoori masala powder (I left this out)

pinch of caster sugar

In addition, you might want some cream/natural yoghurt to temper the sauce to your taste, a squeeze of lemon to brighten the flavours of the sauce and some additional chopped coriander for garnish.

Method:

Mix the ingredients for the meatballs together thoroughly and add about a teaspoon of salt and a grinding of pepper. Heat a little oil in a frying pan (you may as well use the pan you're about to cook the sauce in!) and put a teaspoon of the mixture into the oil to cook. Once cooked, taste for seasoning. If it needs more, add more to the mix and repeat. Once you are happy with the taste form the mix into meatballs about the size of golfballs, or to your preference.

Cover the meatballs with cling film and refrigerate until required.

To make the sauce, heat the sunflower oil in a saucepan that will, eventually, be big enough to hold the meatballs in a single layer. Add the cumin, cloves and bay leaf to the oil, and when they start to sizzle and become fragrant, add the onion and garlic and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes.

At this time, I placed my meatballs in a hot oven to colour, but it probably isn't necessary.

Once the onion and garlic mixture is looking translucent, increase the heat and cook the mixture until it is starting to brown slightly and looking a little dried out. At that point, add the passata, chillies, ginger, garam marsala and turmeric and then cook for a further 4 to 5 minutes.

Now add 12fl oz of boiling water, stir well and season with salt and pepper.

The original recipe now suggests blitzing the sauce with hand held blender to create a smooth sauce, but I didn't, being a fan of chunky, more textured sauces.

Bring the sauce to a simmer, then add the meatballs. Continue to cook on a low heat for about 20 - 30 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally in case the meatballs begin to catch on the bottom.

At this point sprinkle the sugar into the pan and stir a little. You might now want to raise the heat to thicken the sauce to the consistency you prefer.

Taste the sauce once you are happy with the thickness. It may need more seasoning, you might want to temper the heat with yoghurt/cream (as I did - a heaped tablespoon initially) and then brighten the sauce with a squeeze of lemon. At this point I served mine and Phill's portion and then added more cream for Lola and Finn's portions.

I served this over steamed rice with a sprinkling of chopped coriander.

Familiar ingredients - easy food: Chicken, Chorizo and Rice Bake

Regular visitors to this blog may have gathered amongst other things that I love Spanish food and that I like food that is not faffy. Here, these two aspects meet, within this lovely recipe which I found in 'Food from the Sun' by Irish chef Neven Maguire. I happened upon him when I was watching the Good Food Channel here in the UK at a time when they use to air programmes that were interesting, rather than re runs of Man v. Food (my personal pet hate). I loved his all round cheeriness (and whilst I would not want to pigeonhole the Irish, not least because I am partly one of them, but the fact remains that I have never yet gone to Ireland and not felt cheered), his studio kitchen and his simple and gorgeous looking recipes. I bought the book and enjoyed it in much the same way that I enjoyed watching his programmes. Simple food with a smile.

We are never far from chicken and chorizo in this house, mainly because they are enjoyed by everyone here. I wasn't sure how Lola and Finn would take to the artichokes that this recipe called for but Lola was quite receptive, eating a few of the petals as they came away from the core. I told her they were flowers, and Lola being a girly girl was happy with that. Finn ate around them. I do think that you could get away without the artichokes though if you don't happen to have a tin of them around (and to be honest I don't really know why I had a tin of them). Red peppers, the ones you can get in a jar, would be an apt substitute I think.

This recipe is very easy to do; I cooked it after coming in from work one night, and it is the type of meal that you can cook whilst doing that list of mundane tasks that seem to materialise when you fall through the door of a weeknight, mostly involving lunch boxes, demands from the school for yet more money and putting the second school uniform this week into the wash because of some unidentified 'stain'.

A note (or two) on how I interpreted the recipe below. My artichokes were not in oil and so I just drained mine and added olive oil where necessary. A chicken dish is as good as the chicken you put in it so try to use good chicken (I might use chicken thighs next time; cheaper with more interesting meat) and the chorizo I used wasn't raw; it was some that I had left from my raiding of Carrefour on the way back from France recently. It was significantly cheaper than the chorizo that I buy in the UK and it also is 'piccante', which gave this finished dish a mellow warmth. I also upped the chorizo quantity by 25g as I was using the chorizo that I had left.

A good meal was had by all.

Chicken and Chorizo Rice Bake, adapted from 'Food from the Sun' by Neven Maguire


Ingredients

olive oil

400g tin of artichokes

25 g butter

4 chicken breast fillets, skin on if you like

1 large onion finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

125 g raw chorizo sausage (sliced)

350 g long grain rice

150 ml dry white wine

600 ml chicken stock

2 tblsp roughly chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).Add half of the butter and some olive oil to a suitable casserole then place on the hob to heat.

Season the chicken breasts, add to the dish, skin-side down, then cook for 2-3 minutes until lightly browned.

Turn over and cook for another minute or so until sealed. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add another tablespoon of oil with the remaining butter to the pan and then tip in onion and garlic. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until softened but not coloured.

Add the chorizo and rice and cook for another 2 minutes, stirring until the chorizo has begun to release its oil and all the rice grains are well coated.

Pour the wine into the pan, stirring to combine and then add the stock and fold in the artichokes. Arrange the chicken on top, pushing the breasts down into the rice.

Cover and bake for 35-40 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed and the chicken and rice are cooked through and tender.

Scatter over the parsley and place directly on the table to serve.