CHICKEN KORMA + ALOO PALAK WITH CHICKPEAS

Aaaaah the beauty of curry, ey? I grew up on dad's delicious, slow cooked chicken and potato curries and always fondly remember traveling to England and being treated to my first curry feast at our family friends' favourite curry house. I was absolutely in love with the beautiful little copper dishes, the unique tandoori flavours and the unexpected sweetness of a peshwari naan.

While I am more likely to choose a Jalfrezi nowadays, then, my go to curry would have been a Korma. The coconutty creaminess of the gravy, the crunch of roasted almonds and shredded coconut paired with a tangy dollop of lime pickle - heaven!

Trying to recreate this curry house favourite never occurred to me. I was probably too afraid to face the calorie count of the ingredients used. "More ghee you say?" 

I think my imagination was more vivid than the truth and today I wonder why I didn't try this amazingly delicious dish earlier. It's easy you guys. I mean super dooper easy. It's not the same as the one you get from your favourite curry house, but nevertheless it's delicious. You know what else? It's not even that unhealthy and the easiest thing ever. So there I've told you, now make it!!!

If you are on a Paleo/Legume+Potato-free diet pair this with some cauliflower rice. The Aloo Palak would be just as tasty without the chickpeas and with sweet potatoes instead of potatoes. Yum!

Enjoy,
Etta xo

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SERVES 4-6
PREPARATION 20mins
COOKS 45mins

INGREDIENTS

• 4 good size chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 1 tin coconut milk (make sure you get a good one that isn't only water and hasn't got any weirdo additives - the creamier the better) Also you might need a bit more, depending on how dry and how spicy you like your Korma to be, so keep an extra tin on hand

Korma Curry Paste 

• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 thumb-sized piece fresh root ginger
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon garam masala
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 2 fresh green chillies, roughly chopped
• 3 tablespoons desiccated coconut
• 2 tablespoons ground almonds
• 1 small bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped (optional)
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds

• 1tbsp coconut oil
• 4tbsps flaked, toasted almonds, to garnish
• salt and pepper

• steamed basmati rice to serve
• lime pickle to serve 

Aloo Palak with Chickpeas

• 300 g spinach, fresh or frozen
• 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2cm fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
• 2 onions, chopped
• 1-2 green chilis, chopped with seeds
• 200 g waxy potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1tsp turmeric
• 2tbsps coconut oil + a bit more to sautee the spinach
• 2 teaspoon cumin seed
• 2 teaspoons garam masala
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 tin chickpeas, drained
• 2 tablespoons coconut milk (take this from the tin you are using for your korma)
• salt

PREPARATION
For the Chicken Korma

1. First you need to make your curry paste. Peel the garlic and ginger. Put a frying pan on a medium to high heat and add the spices for toasting to the dry pan. Lightly toast them for a few minutes until golden brown and starting to release their fragrance, then remove the pan from the heat.
2. Add the toasted spices to a pestle and mortar and grind until fine. Once you have a powder add the ginger, garlic and chillies and grind with the spices until you almost have a paste. Then add the rest of the ingredients and grind some more until you end up with a smooth-ish paste. If it's all too thick you might want to add a teaspoon of melted coconut oil. Alternatively, and much easier, you can do all this in a food-processor.
3. Add the tablespoon of coconut oil to a large saucepan over a medium heat. Once melted, spoon your curry paste into the pan and fry until thoroughly mixed with the oil and lovely and fragrant. This will take about 2-3 minutes. Now pour in your coconut milk and stir well. Season with salt and pepper then leave to simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Slowly lower your chicken breast strips into the gravy and make sure they are well coated. The reason why I put the chicken into the gravy without browning it is that it makes it much more tender and it allows the meat to take on all the lovely flavours from the sauce.
5. Simmer the curry over a medium heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the sauce is nice and thick and the chicken is cooked through.  

For the Aloo Palak

1. Add a little coconut oil to a frying pan over a medium to high heat. Fry the garlic, ginger, onions and green chillies for about 5 minutes until soft then add the spinach and cook until wilted. 
2. Remove the spinach from the pan and roughly chop with a large knife. Set aside.
3. Boil your potatoes with half a teaspoon of salt and the turmeric until they are cooked. This will take approximately 10 minutes.
4. Heat the coconut oil in a frying pan and add the cumin seeds and the chopped spinach and simmer for a couple of minutes.
5. Now add the chickpeas, potatoes, garam masala, coriander and cumin powder along with a little water if too thick. Season with salt and pepper
6. Simmer for about 5 minutes until the chickpeas are tender and the potatoes have absorbed the spices.
7. Stir in the coconut milk.

Serve your Korma topped with some toasted almonds a dollop of lime pickle, basmati rice and the Aloo Palak. This is one serious curry feast you guys!