Curry Chicken fillets with Chutney and Coconut

This is not your typical “Kerk bazaar” (Church fete’) Curry and rice recipe, but I’ve tried to adopt a much healthier version for an old classic.

Traditional Curry and Rice, as our  South African folks would tell you consists of Curry Mince / lamb with added vegetables such as carrots, potatoes or peas over a bowl of white long grain rice.  Don’t confuse this curry with your traditional Indian curries, they are two completely different meals.

At any good Church Fete’ you would have the additional trimmings to enrich your (plastic) bowl of curry.

First you have your bowl of sliced bananas mixed with mayonnaise and a tad bit of condensed milk that you would spoon over your curry, more than 2 tablespoons is considered rude as you need to keep in mind that everyone else in line behind you also want some.  If you are brave enough and don’t mind the church aunties giving you a dirty look than go ahead, have another table-spoon!

Secondly comes the Tomato Sambal that normally consists of diced Tomato and onions with a dash of salt and pepper.

Then comes the ever popular Mrs. Balls chutney, one tablespoon is efficient and lastly,  a healthy heaped teaspoon of desiccated coconut is added on top.

My husband and son loves mixing everything together before they eat it, I prefer eating it as is,  in layers.

For the recipe below I’ve used Chicken breast which I’ve  marinated in a Curry yogurt marinade. The white rice is replaced with brown rice for a healthier option and low-fat mayonnaise and low-fat chutney was used.

A great mock recipe that fools the taste buds but still pleases the senses.

Enjoy!

Curry Chicken Fillets

400 g – 500 g Chicken Breasts (sliced in half-length ways)

175 ml plain yogurt

2 tsp curry powder

or alternatively mix your own curry powder

(1 tsp Dahnia and Jeera powder mix, 1 tsp turmeric, 1/2 tsp chilli powder, 1/2 tsp ginger powder)

salt and pepper to taste

Cut chicken fillets length ways in half and pound the chicken fillets gently between two sheets of cling film.

Mix the curry, salt and pepper and the yogurt together. Rub the yogurt mix over the chicken breast and pour the rest of the mixture over the chicken in a container and marinate over night or at least 3 hours before cooking.

Grill chicken fillets in a pan with a little olive oil until done. Serve with the following side dishes

Cooked brown rice 

Tomato and Onion Sambal 

Chop 3 firm tomatoes and 1/2 onion , season with salt and black pepper

Banana and mayonnaise 

Slice 2 bananas and mix with 4 tbsp low-fat mayonnaise

Serve Chicken breast with a dollop of Chutney and a teaspoon of desiccated coconut on top besides the side dished on your plate.

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Rosemary and Orange Sunday Roast Chicken

 

 

Rosemary is probably one of the greatest herbs to compliment a Roast Chicken, pair it with Oranges and you have a winner Sunday Roast without much effort.

I’ts been said that a thriving Rosemary bush in a family garden indicates a female head of the household. Well I’ve got 3 different variations of Rosemary (Pink, blue and white)  growing in my garden and boy oh boy are they thriving!  Seems my husband’s allegations of me constantly wanting to wear the pants in the house might not be all that wrong.

Rosemary is also associated with memory were in ancient Greece students would adorn their hair with sprigs of Rosemary while studying….now I’m just wondering  how I would look attending my meetings with Rosemary in my hair, Greek Goddess!

And don’t forget that a sprig of Rosemary under your pillow will protect you from evil spirits and nightmares.

Recipe 

1 Whole Chicken 

Juice of 2 fresh oranges  

15 ml Robertson’s Chicken spices 

1 Sprig of Rosemary 

600 g Baby potatoes 

Rinse Chicken and rub with the Chicken Spices, place in your Roasting pan (with lid). 

Cut the Rosemary sprig in 3  pieces and place in the Roasting pan with the Chicken. 

Peel baby potatoes and add to the pan. 

Add juice of 2 oranges over the Chicken and the potatoes, place lid on and bake in 180 degrees oven for +-  1 1/2 – 2 hours until Chicken are super moist and soft and golden brown. 

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Chicken Curry with Butternut, Sweet potato and baby potatoes.

I cook this meal at least once a week, this is now my all time favorite winter “diet” curry.  Curry is such a wonderful thing, it fills you up and warms your heart. I’m always amazed at how all the spicy flavors come together to form something so magic and spectacular in your mouth.

Instead of having this with rice I rather choose healthier form of  starch such as starchy vegtables in the form of baby potatoes (lower GI than your ordinary potato) and Sweet potato that goes fantastic with the curry. The butternut gives body to the sauce without adding much of anything else to thicken it with.

You will simply not believe what a quick and filling meal this is. Please do yourself a favor and invest in spice tin. I can simply not make a decient curry without it.

I use Chicken breast and drumsticks but remove the skin and all visible fat before cooking, also important to stick to the portion sizes. Nowadays I only cook the portion we are suppose to have unless I cook double for lunch the next day. Beside the obvious benefits of not over indulging you also save a lot more money because there is no food going to waste.

Yip, because we don’t really ”give it to the dogs” we rather have second portions “because we are hungry and work was horrible today and it’s cold and blah blah blah lipstick”. Sometimes it’s too much effort to give that 1/2 cup of rice that’s left over to the dog anyway so you rather chuck it in the bin…been there done that! No more!

here is a simple quide to cooking the correct portion sizes.

Serves 4

200 g Baby pototoes,  with skin halved

200 g butternut, peeled, chucky cubes

200 g sweet potato, peeled, chuncky cubes

4 Chicken drumsticks

4 Chicken Breasts

5 ml Jeera seeds ( Cumin seeds )

1 Onion, finely chopped

5 ml grated ginger

1 Garlic glove finely chopped

1 Green Chilli, finely chopped

1 red Chilli, finely chopped

5 ml dhania Powder ( Coriander powder)

5 ml Turmeric spice

5 ml Chilli powder (optional and adjust to taste, I like it hot!)

5 ml Garam masala

3 tomatoes

5 ml brown sugar

1 piece of cinnamon bark / stick

Salt to taste

Olive oil

Whiz up the 3 tomatoes in a your food processor or finely chop and set aside.

Saute’ your chopped onions with the Jeera (cumin seeds)  in a little olive oil  in your pot until the onions are transculent and soft.

Add your chillies, garlic and ginger and fry for another minute.

Add all your spices to the onions and fry for 30 seconds while stirring. Add Chicken pieces and veggies to the pot with the chopped tomatoes, cinnamon and brown sugar. Keep stiring until the tomatoes has disolved, add just enough water to cover the veggies and chicken and simmer for +- 25 - 40 minutes on moderate heat with the lid on until the veggies are soft and the chicken are cooked through. Stir in between cooking time and adjust the quantity of the liquid accordingly. Don’t worry if the butternut becomes a bit mushy, this will ultimately form a lovely sweet sauce.

Remove cinnamon stick / bark and add salt to taste, serve hot.

Tips

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 If you want to thicken your sauce a bit use 2 tbs gram flour (chickpea flower) mixed with a little water and add during the last few minutes of cooking.

If you don’t have any of the above spices at hand use the following spice mix ( 15 ml curry powder, 2, 5 ml cinnamon powder, 2;5 ml ginger powder and 2,5 ml turmeric powder. You can also use dried chillies instead of fresh chillies.

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Soy, Honey and Sesame Chicken Wings

There is a first time for everything….even green Asparagus.

Yes I know! How is it possible that I’ve never eaten green Asparagus yet I love white Asparagus spears so much.

When we just got married (many, many moons ago) I tried to cook green Asparagus and it tasted horrible, I thought it was just the Asparagus that tasted bad, off course way back than I wasn’t able to cook an egg properly either.

Don’t be fooled,  the actual star of this meal is the Sticky Soy, Honey and Sesame Chicken Wings served with a potato Rosti.

Soy, Honey and Sesame Chicken Wings 

+- 8 -10 Chicken wings

50 g Sesame seeds

For the marinade mix together

150 ml Vital Soy Sauce

75 ml Honey

1 tbs Chicken spice

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Marinade the chicken for at least 1 hour.

Pre heat oven to 180 degrees and place chicken in a baking tray. Sprinkle the sesame seeds on to the chicken. Baste frequently with the remainder of the marinade that is left over. Bake until golden brown and cooked through.

In the meantime cook your asparagus as follows: 

Heat a large griddle pan and dry-griddle the asparagus spears on both sides. When they are ready drizzle the juice of 1/2 lemon and a dash of Olive oil over them. Season with ground pepper and salt.

For the potato Rosti

6 Potatoes peeled

6 tbs flour

1 egg yolk

salt and pepper to taste

Chopped spring onion to taste

Grate the potatoes and rinse under cold water, strain the potatoes and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients to the potato mixing it thoroughly. Transfer the potatoes onto a clean tea towel.  Bring the corners together and squeeze the liquid out. Use your hands to form little potato patties for frying.

Heat your pan with a little olive oil and fry the rosti’s on a low to medium heat for +- 7 minutes on each side turning carefully.

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