If you remember, I spent 12 years eating food at boarding schools. 1980′ and 1990’s government boarding schools mind you; not private boarding schools with a veritable buffet selection, but a ‘eat what we put in front of you‘ selection.

At HHS (Howick High School) where the food was literally 100 times better than RPS (Richmond Primary School), we would occasionally get a chicken curry and rice. It was good enough. Pretty generic though, in that it wasn’t an original Indian Curry,  but it was the early 1990’s, when the only place to get a curry in South Africa was in Durbs By The Sea. N’importe quoi, besides- what does a hostel of lily white english speaking kids know about curry anyway?

I always enjoyed that curry; they served it with chopped raw onion and tomatoes, with fresh green chilli, always enough to burn my taste buds delightfully and I would always go back for more sambals, right alongside the 2 litre metal jug of water that would be on the table.

Curry is one of those food cultures that people either love, or avoid.  I don’t know many  mediocre curry fans, and I suppose when it comes to eating curry at home, there’s always the option to buy a sauce in a bottle and heat it up with your chicken breasts and throw it alongside the rice.

So let’s up your game a bit.  Disclaimer…: This is my generic go-to curry recipe that doesn’t require knowledge of regional Indian cooking, nor does it require a trove of whole spices that should conventionally be used.  (Unlike the lamb vindaloo recipe that we used to use at The Michelangelo.  That list included 25 lines of whole spices that were sautéed in ghee, then thrown into a blender with raw onion, raw tomato and vinegar.  I regret so much that I lost that recipe, it remains my favourite curry.)

(Generic family friendly) Chicken Curry

500-600g Chicken breasts

2 large onions

6 medium potatoes, (cubed to 3x3cm)

120ml cooking oil

3 small garlic cloves

1 teaspoon fresh ginger (or 2.5ml ginger powder)

2.5ml mustard seeds (optional, I keep this stock and use it often)

5ml paprika spice

5ml turmeric spice

5ml cumin spice

10ml garam masala

10ml curry powder

2.5ml chilli flakes/powder

125ml wine vinegar

1 tin tomato (pieces)

300-500ml water

Salt and pepper

1 red pepper, cut into thin slices

150ml frozen peas

Over medium-low heat in a large cooking pot, add half the oil, all the onion, chopped into small cubes, the potato cubes and the garlic and ginger (if fresh). Allow the onions to cook without colour until translucent. Try to avoid letting the potatoes stick to the bottom of the pan, stir frequently, add extra oil if necessary.

Once the onions are half-cooked, add the rest of the oil and all the dry spices. Stir them through, and allow them to cook. The spices are made up of an amount of dextrose, so a.) they will stick to the pan if left unattended, and b.) the starch needs to be cooked out so you will need to cook them for 1 minute. Once you have the flavor of the spices coming out, add the half cup of wine vinegar to the pan.

(In much the same way as you would deglaze a meat-pan with red wine to draw those flavors out, I add vinegar to my curries to deglaze the pan of the curry spices. It also helps to cook the spices as well)

Once you have cooked the vinegar off for half a minute, you can now add the tin of tomatoes and the water.

Continue to cook this over low heat for 20 minutes, making sure it doesn’t burn (due to the spices), or run out of liquid. You can top up with water if necessary. Cook until the potatoes are quite soft.

Once the potatoes are soft enough to eat, you can add your chicken pieces. Remember, chicken breast meat dries out quickly my overcooked, so don’t cut the meat too big- it will take too long to cook to the centre. Slice it into strips about 5cm long x 3cm wide x 1cm thick. At the same time, add the sliced red peppers, and the peas and you can add enough salt and pepper to your taste. Cook for 5 minutes to ensure the chicken is cooked through.

Serve with rice.

 

While we’re on the topic of Indian flavoured food, I’m going to add this recipe for Baked Cauliflower.

 

Baked Cauliflower

(It’s pointless doing this with just enough cauliflower for one person so this is a recipe to cook one while head of cauliflower that’s enough as a side veg dish for 4/5 adults. I serve it as a replacement for starch for hubby and I, and it’s a nice meal on its own if you’re so inclined.)

1 head of cauliflower, trimmed down into florets

30g butter, cut into cubes

30ml olive oil

1 generous pinch paprika powder

1 generous pinch turmeric

1 generous pinch garam masala

1 generous pinch generic curry powder

1 big tablespoon of white sesame seeds

Salt and pepper as you prefer.

Mix everything into an oven proof dish and roast for 15-20 minutes at 180degrees.