VERY GOOD BALTI CHICKEN

• hidangan: 4
• masa aktif: 30 minutes
• jumlah masa: 45 minutes

Bahan-bahan

15g butter

2 tbsp sunflower oil

2 large onions, roughly chopped

3 garlic cloves, sliced

25g chunk of fresh root ginger, peeled and roughly chopped

2-3 tbsp medium curry paste or balti curry paste

1 tbsp tomato purée

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

175ml just-boiled water

½ tsp flaked sea salt

1 tsp caster sugar

4 fresh ripe tomatoes, quartered

200-225g bag of baby spinach leaves

Arahan

To prepare the sauce base, melt the butter with 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large non-stick frying pan. You need a pan with a lid, so if you don't have one handy, use a large non-stick saucepan instead. Add the onions, garlic and ginger to the pan, then cover with a lid and cook over a low heat for 15 minutes until very soft. Stir occasionally.

Remove the lid from the pan and turn up the heat. Cook the onion mixture for 2-3 minutes more, stirring constantly, until well coloured. Add the curry paste to the pan, turn down the heat slightly and cook with the onions for 3 minutes more, stirring frequently. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the tomato purée.

Blitz the spiced onions with a stick blender or tip them into a food processor and blend until as smooth as possible. Tip the onion mixture into a bowl and set aside. If you like, you can keep the mixture, covered, in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Cut each chicken breast into 7 or 8 bite-sized chunks. Place the pan used to cook the onion mixture back over a medium heat and add the remaining oil and the chicken pieces. Fry the chicken for 3 minutes, turning often, until lightly coloured all over.

Next, add all the spiced onion mixture, water, salt, sugar and tomatoes, bring to a simmer and cook for 4 minutes. Add the spinach in a few handfuls, allowing each to soften a little before adding the next. Cook for a further minute, stirring regularly, or until the chicken is cooked

through, the tomatoes are softened and the spinach has wilted. Serve with warmed naan bread or freshly cooked rice.

Nota

Balti has become the Brummies oven and is the quickest of all curries. Balti means bucket and is the name of the pot traditionally used for cooking this dish. The pot looks a bit like a two-handled took, brut an ordinary frying pan with a lid works just fine. This is our version of this wonderful one-pot meal - really simple but tastes rich and delicious. Add an extra spoonful of curry paste if you like your eurry hot, or fry a chopped red chilli with the garlic and ginger instead. Serves 4