Chicken and spinach curry

Here I am again with a curry recipe. This time it’s a chicken and spinach curry. I don’t pretend that any of my curries are authentic in any way, they are my very Holly-style interpretation of curry. A childhood spent growing up in Leicester, eating the odd biryani and then frankly OD-ing in my teens and twenties. I do love a curry and this chicken and spinach curry is one of my favourites. It’s easy, which is just the way I like my cooking to be.

Now I posted a photo on Instagram and received a lot of comments asking me for the recipe and a fair few enquiring as to whether my kids eat curry. I’m not going to lie to you. They’re not madly keen. But recently it seems Bombay mix is a gateway to curry consumption. Then one evening I scattered my own portion of curry with the stuff and well, I have never looked back. I recommend you try it. Crunchy and spicy and moreish. It’s everything.

If you love a chicken curry or two may I also recommend these fine recipes; home style chicken curry from Good Food, Maunika Gowardhan’s spicy Kerelan chicken curry and the perfect chicken tikka masala from Felicity Cloake of Guardian fame.

To make this you I thoroughly recommend a Le Creuset casserole dish which you can buy here. It is a HUGE amount of money for a casserole dish. Needless to say it was a wedding gift. However I use it so often that I think cost per use is actually very good. I also use my Pressure King Pro to make this curry which is less money and is available here.

Lots of great recipes like this in my books, Recipes from a Normal Mum, (available on Amazon, at The Works, Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets) and The Power of Frozen (available through Amazon).

Last year: Finger licking spiced ribs and Baked Bramley apple cheesecakes and Easter biscuit baking kit and My never fail Victoria sponge and Double Decker brownies and Easy pea and ham soup and Coconut and lemon tart.

Two years ago: Weaning flapjack and White chocolate mousse eggs and Easter chocolate nests with biscuit chicks and Lamb, pea and mint pie with rough puff pastry and Homemade Snickers and Spinach, ricotta and sweet potato lasagneand Mother’s Day afternoon tea and Chocolate chip cookies and Lemon and raspberry trifle

Three years ago: Florentine quiche and Flourless chocolate cake and Cadbury Creme Mini Egg chocolate flapjack and School fair rocky road

Four year ago: White chocolate & cranberry hot cross buns and Cadbury creme egg mess and Banoffee pecan mini pavs

Five years ago: Easter Apostles scone loaf and Carrot cake in a cup for Mother’s Day and Cranberry oaty biscuits

Six years ago: Mini chocolate birds nests and Puff pastry and Walnut bread

Chicken and spinach curry

By Holly Bell on 03/07/2017

Yield: 4

Ingredients:

3 tbsp ghee (or vegetable oil)
3 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 tsp salt
4 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 green chillies, finely chopped
2 tbsp fresh minced ginger
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
20g jaggery (or brown sugar)
2 tbsp tamarind paste
1 cinnamon stick
8 chicken thighs, skin removed, bone in or out
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
40g creamed coconut (the block stuff)
3 red peppers, deseeded and roughly chopped
100g frozen spinach (or fresh)
30g fresh coriander, chopped
Yogurt to serve if you want to cool it down

Instructions:
Heat the ghee (or oil) in a casserole dish (with a fitted lid, though save it for later) over a medium heat and preheat the oven to 160C/fan 140C/gas mark 3. Add the onions and salt to the dish and fry for 10 minutes until soft. Add the garlic, chillies, ginger, garam masala, turmeric, coriander, cumin, black pepper, jaggery and tamarind paste and fry for a further 2 minutes. Add the cinnamon stick and chicken thighs, fry for 2 more minutes until they are just browning then add the rest of the ingredients (though leaving out the fresh coriander and yogurt) plus 600mls cold water. Pop the lid on the dish and oven bake for 25 minutes. Serve with rice, chapatis, poppadoms and fresh coriander. (To pressure cook this curry simply fry everything on the 'fry' setting in the Pressure King Pro without the lid, in stages as per the conventional method above, then close the lid, ensure the valve is closed and set to 'Meat'. If the curry needs to be reduced to thicken it release the pressure and fry with the lid open on the 'fry' setting.)