Chicken and spinach Christmas curry
With just three weeks to go until Christmas, Dean Edwards shows us how to freeze a feast for when we have festive visitors over for dinner but not an awful lot of time to prepare! The curry sauce is also perfect for pulling out the freezer and adding your leftover turkey to later on.
Ingredients
Oil, for frying2 onions, diced2 sticks lemongrass, bruised5 cloves garlic, crushed1 thumb sized piece fresh ginger, grated1 large red chilli, deseeded and diced4 tbsp massaman or Thai curry paste2 tbsp garam masala1 tbsp ground cinnamon1 star anise2 heaped tbsp tomato puree2 x 400g cans coconut milk600ml chicken stock2 tbsp brown sugar (to taste)Juice 2 limes700g waxy potatoes, cut into 2.5cm pieces800g chicken thighs, skinned and dicedSmall bag baby spinach
Method
In a large pan fry the onion and lemongrass in some oil over a medium heat for 5 minutes until golden. Stir in the garlic, ginger, and chilli then cook for a further couple of minutes.
Add the curry paste, garam masala, cinnamon, star anise and tomato puree. Then pour in the coconut milk, stock and potatoes, bring to a simmer. Cover with a lid then cook over a low heat for 1 hour.
Remove the lid, the sauce should be thick, rich and coating the potatoes, if not increase the heat and reduce the sauce for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper, and add the sugar and lime juice to taste.
At this point add the chicken and cook for a further 15 minutes over a gentle heat. Alternatively divide the sauce in half and freeze to add your leftover shredded turkey after Christmas dinner.
Before serving remove the lemongrass stalks and anise, stir through the spinach until wilted and serve with a side of rice