RECIPE - Chicken Jalfrezi

Curry is my absolute favourite food. I could live on it given the chance - in fact the place I'm going on honeymoon is in the Indian Ocean and even serves curry for breakfast, which I am excited about! It's definitely not something I could cut out on a diet, so although I still allow myself the occasional takeaway treat, I've spent years trying to perfect a healthy version of my absolute favourite curry - the jalfrezi.

There are a lot of ingredients in this, so the initial outlay isn't cheap, but once you have everything it is cheap to make (and definitely much cheaper than a takeaway).

Ingredients
(Serves 4)
4 cloves
4 cardamom pods
2 large onions, chunkily chopped
2 green peppers, chunkily chopped
2 red chillies, finely chopped
4 chicken breasts
2 tins chopped tomatoes
6 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tsp turmeric powder
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp garam massala
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp cumin
Handful fresh coriander
1 lemon
50g red lentils

Method

1. Spray a pan with frylight, add a splash of water and the cloves and cardamom pods. Fry over a medium heat for 1 minute
2. Add the chopped onion and crushed garlic, and fry for a further 5 minutes, adding water if necessary to keep things from drying out
3. Chop the chicken breast into chunks and add to the frying pan
4. Add the turmeric and chili powder, then stir to coat the chicken and onions. Cook until the chicken has been browned
5. Add one of the tins of chopped tomatoes and stir through.
6. At this point I transfer everything to a large saucepan, but keep going in the frying pan if you have a lid and it is big enough.
7. Add the rest of the chopped tomatoes, garam massala, cumin, ground coriander, peppers and chillies, stir well.
8. Remove the end leaves from the coriander and reserve for later. Finely chop the stalks and add to the curry
9. Simmer over a low heat for at least 30 minutes, but 60 minutes if you have the time, as this really helps the flavours mix.
10. Serve garnished with a slice of lemon, and a sprinkling of the reserved coriander leaves. If you find it quite spicy, a dollop of fat free natural yogurt will cool it slightly.