Chicken curry?

valk_scot

katieowl wrote: »

I don't think you can go wrong really if you use one of the jars of Pateks curry pastes. On the side of each jar it tells you how to make that particular currys, be it a balti, korma or whatever. And you can just fiddle about with that to your taste, I add tomatoes to the tomato based ones, coconut milk/cream to the kormas etc. and vary to suit your vegetables/meat.

I only buy them when they are on offer (and stock up of course ) but I do think they are a step up from curry powder, obviously not the same as a home made paste, or doing the whole thing from scratch, but for a mid-week family meal, with a bit of fresh coriander, think you'd struggle for a simpler, tastier way to do it to be honest?

Kate

Another vote for the Pataks pastes and if they're good enough for Jamie Oliver they're good enough for me too. I can make the various blends and pastes and do own a fairly well stocked spice rack, but pastes are fast and easy and actually not that much more expensive if you've bought them on a 2-4-1 or such.

toothfairybuttkicker

I make a low fat one feed family of 4 on 2 chick breasts or 3 filleted thighs or left over chicken scraps

put your chicken chunks and chopped mushroom ( to pad it out ) mix in a tub of fat free natural yogurt, Spices of your choice (mine ground turmaric, paprika, curry powder and groung cardimum) leave coated chick for 1hr (longer if poss) in fridge

Brown off onion, garlic, chopped ginger if you want in a pan (we use a wok, easier to clean lol)

addd chicken mix and when happy chicken nearly cooked through throw in a tin of cheap chopped tomatoes and simmer till chick finished

serve over boiled rice ect (i like it on potatoe wedges)

jackyann

Use chicken thighs, not breasts; not only are they cheaper, but tastier, and the slightly longer cooking allows the spices to penetrate.
Marinade in the spices before hand to maximise flavour.
Buy spices at Asian food stores not supermarkets. Make with tinned tomatoes or coconut milk (also cheaper at small Asian stores).

katieowl_2

jackyann wrote: »

Buy spices at Asian food stores not supermarkets. Make with tinned tomatoes or coconut milk (also cheaper at small Asian stores).

Yes...especially the blocks of coconut cream, much much cheaper than the supermarkets. Locally I can only get hold of silly little sachets of coconut cream, and it costs a fortune. Back in London the Asian shops sold the blocks three for £1!

Suppose that's the downside of moving to the edge of the known world!


Kate

VJsmum

Jamie Oliver does a good curry base that you can add anything to and freezes well.

If you google it, i'm sure you will find it easily.

Although i am a bit of a fan of Patak's too.:cool:

poodledoodledoo

Decided to make my first ever chicken curry from scratch this evening :j
One dilemma however, the recipe I'm using says to make the sauce first, then add the chicken. As I'm using raw chicken, wouldn't I need to brown it off first? Or would it be OK providing I cook it in the sauce for long enough?

Actually, I'd quite like to freeze some of the (chickenless) sauce for a later date too...Given that it has to cook for some time AFTER adding the chicken, how well would I have to cook the sauce to get it to the stage where I could freeze it and use it another time?

My brain hurts :rotfl:

crazyguy

I normaly brown the chicken slightly, and then leave it to simmer for a good while, And normaly if I freeze any of it then it would be after cooling so either do the whole lot with chicken in it or just the sauce,

sadie70

if the sauce needs to cook for quite a long time after adding the chicken then using it raw will be fine.

poodledoodledoo

sadie70 wrote: »

if the sauce needs to cook for quite a long time after adding the chicken then using it raw will be fine.

It says 30 minutes. It's chicken breast I'm using and I plan on dicing it so the pieces will be bitesize-ish. Perhaps covering the pan while it's simmering would be a good idea?

poodledoodledoo

I wonder if it would be OK to freeze half of the sauce 'raw' (i.e. before the stage of adding the chicken)? That way I could defrost at a later date, add the chicken and cook for half an hour as normal. Or would I need to cook it thoroughly before freezing so the spices infuse etc?