Spiced Chicken Madras

We all know that authentic curry dishes involve a whole array of spices that are first roasted, then ground and blended to bring about all those deep aromas and flavours that charm and beguile us. But, oh dear, the time it takes!

The cheat's task is to short-circuit all that, but still achieve something not far short. How? Find the very best ready-assembled blend of spices that have already been roasted and ground. Not easy, but one comes through with flying colours. Blessed be Sharwood’s, because they have done it. Their hot Madras curry powder is definitely a cut above the rest and, used in the following recipe, I promise it will seem like you're eating the real thing.

• Add to favourites
• Add to shopping list
• Email a friend
• Print

  Serves 2 (or double for 4; treble for 6)

Ingredients
1 small clove of garlic, peeled
1 dessertspoon groundnut or other flavourless oil
1 heaped teaspoon ground ginger
1 heaped teaspoon ground turmeric
1 teaspoon of sea salt
2 part-boned, skin on, chicken breasts
1 small onion, peeled
1 heaped teaspoon Sharwood’s Hot Curry Powder (for Madras and other hot dishes)
7 fl oz (200 ml) half-fat crème fraîche
few coriander sprigs, to garnish

Conversions
Need help with conversions?

Equipment
There is no list of equipment specified for this recipe.

This recipe first appeared in You magazine.

Method

What we're going to do here is, first of all put the garlic, oil, ginger, turmeric and salt into a Mini Chopper (see How To Cheat Equipment Hero, below) and whiz them to a paste. No Mini Chopper? Fear not, crush the garlic clove, pressing with the back of the knife, then mix to a paste with rest of the above.

Now, with a skewer or small knife, stab the chicken breasts several times, so they can absorb all the flavours, and spread half of the spice paste all over each one.

Now, in an ideal world, you would leave it aside on a plate covered with foil for however many hours, or overnight. But, that said, it will still be good if you cook it immediately in a pre-heated oven at gas mark 4, 180°C (350°F). In which case, chop the onion roughly and scatter it into the centre of a small roasting tin or heatproof dish, then put the chicken breasts on top of the onions and pop them into the oven for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix the curry powder with the crème fraîche, then, when the 30 minutes is up, pour it over the chicken. Cover the dish with foil, then return it to the oven for a further 30 minutes. Serve with rice, mango chutney and garnish with coriander sprigs.

How To Cheat Hero Ingredients
Sharwood’s Hot Curry Powder (for Madras and other hot dishes)

How To Cheat Equipment Hero
Kenwood CH180 Mini Chopper
Available from Argos, larger Boots stores, Sainsbury’s, House of Fraser, Allders and Safeway
Delia says, 'If you want to short-circuit lots of tedious chopping and knife sharpening, I’m really enthusiastic about this ingenious mini food processor. 1 tablespoon chopped parsley: 2 seconds, ¾ packet watercress: 4-5 seconds, a finely chopped onion… you name it – thousands of fast little processes that save you time.'

• Bookmark with:
• Delicious
• Digg
• Facebook
• StumbleUpon