Coconut Chicken Curry – quick and easy

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp unrefined coconut oil (virgin), ie coconut flavoured, or butter, ghee, or any cooking oil you want (Note 1)
• 500 g/1lb boneless chicken thighs, cut into ~2cm / 0.8" pieces (Note 2)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 1/2 tbsp garlic, finely grated using a microplane (~6 large cloves)
• 1 1/2 tbsp ginger, finely grated using a microplane
• 2 1/2 tbsp curry powder, mild – just regular ones like Clives, Keens (feel free to use HOT for spicy!)
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• 1 tsp turmeric powder
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 1/2 cups chicken stock/broth, low sodium
• 400g / 14oz coconut cream (substitute coconut milk), full fat (Note 3)
• 400g / 14oz can chickpeas, drained
• 1 1/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt (halve for table salt, double for flakes)
• Plain yogurt, slightly thinned with water to make it drizzle-able
• Coriander leaves (cilantro), roughly chopped, recommended
• Basmati rice (you'll need to cook 3 cups rice grains to make enough) or other rice of choice
• Naan, optional

Steps

1. Melt oil, sauté onion, then garlic and ginger. Toast spices, then tomato paste, coat chicken. Reduce chicken stock by half (5 min), then add coconut, chickpeas and salt. Simmer rapidly 8 min, stand 5 min then serve over rice.
2. Sauté – Melt the coconut oil in a large pot over medium high heat (or a large deep skillet). Add the onion and cook for 2 minutes, until translucent. Add the garlic and ginger, stir constantly for 30 seconds (scrape base if it starts to stick).
3. Toast spices – Add the curry powder, turmeric and cumin. Stir for 15 seconds, taking care to make sure it doesn't stick and burn on base (if it does, add splash of water).
4. Coat chicken – Add tomato paste and stir to coat all the onion, then add the chicken and stir to coat.
5. Reduce chicken stock 5 minutes – Add the chicken stock, stir well, then once it starts bubbling, simmer rapidly for 5 minutes to reduce the liquid, stirring once in a while (adjust heat as needed, we want rapid bubbles – this is a speedy recipe remember!).
6. Simmer 8 minutes – Add the coconut cream, chickpeas and salt. Stir well, bring back up to a simmer then simmer rapidly for 8 minutes, stirring every now and then. The sauce should be creamy but a little thinner than you'd expect.
7. Serve – Remove the pot from the stove and leave to cool for 5 minutes, during which time the sauce will thicken a bit more. Serve over basmati rice with a drizzle of yogurt and sprinkle of fresh coriander. I wouldn't say not to a warm naan or flatbread either. 🙂