By Mia De Cesare
:: Serves 4 – 6 ::
:: All ingredients can be found at your local Romeo’s ::
This recipe is dairy-free and gluten-free (if you skip the yoghurt garnish, or use coconut yoghurt instead), which means it’s the perfect meal to make when entertaining for a crowd! It also has the added benefit of turmeric, which is a powerful anti-inflammatory agent great for winter and fighting illness.
Ingredients
600g chicken thighs
1 brown onion, chopped roughly
4cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and chopped roughly
3 garlic cloves, crushed
¼ cup neutrally flavoured cooking oil (rice bran, coconut, grapeseed, or sunflower) + 2 tbsp extra for cooking chicken
1 ½ tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp smoked paprika
Zest and juice of 1 lime
400mL coconut cream
2-3 tbsp fish sauce
2-3 tsp sugar
2 broccoli heads, chopped into florets
1 small tin water chestnuts, chopped
Basmati rice, papadums, fresh chilli, mango chutney, coriander &/or Greek yoghurt (to serve)
Method
- Combine onion, ginger, garlic, oil, turmeric, cumin, coriander, paprika, and zest & juice of lime in a small food processor until a paste is formed and there are no chunks remaining. This will be your curry paste! Set aside.
- Chop chicken thighs into approx. 3cm pieces.
- Heat 2 tbsp oil in a large fry pan on a medium-high heat. Add chicken thighs and cook in two batches, until golden. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium and add curry paste to pan. Cook, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon for 5 to 8 minutes or until the oil starts to separate from the rest of the paste and is fragrant.
- Stir in the coconut cream and 2 cups of water. Leaving the lid off, bring to the boil. Reduce the heat to low and add the fish sauce and sugar. Let the curry sauce simmer for 10 minutes with the lid on to let flavours develop.
- Return cooked chicken to pan and continue to cook with the lid on for a further 10 minutes. If the curry seems too watery, leave the lid off to help reduce the liquid. If the curry seems too creamy and/or reduced, add more water.
- Finally, add the broccoli and water chestnuts and cook for a further 5 to 10 minutes until the broccoli is cooked but still crunchy! You’re welcome to use any vegetables that you like in this curry – zucchini, baby corn and bamboo shoots also work really well.
- Serve the curry with extra lime juice, basmati rice, papadums, fresh chilli, mango chutney, coriander &/or Greek yoghurt! This curry loves lots of condiments! Enjoy!
