curry for comfort

Families....who'd have'em?!

Last night I felt in the need for tasty, spicy comfort food. We had chicken in the fridge, rice in the cupboard, so chicken biriani was the decision. The BBC website came up with the recipe for me (simplified to aid preparation when feeling slightly befuddled), and it did the trick far better than a large slab of chocolate would have done (that was my fall back solution).

Here's the recipe. It was quick and easy. Perfect for a quick week-night supper. The only downside is that my hands still smell of curry spices.

Chicken Biriani for 2 people (fairly generous portions)

1 dessertspoon vegetable oil
125g basmati rice
1 medium onion (chopped)
4 garlic cloves (chopped)
2 teaspoons grated root ginger
2 chicken breasts (cut into bite sized chunks)
1/4 teaspoon hot chilli powder
1 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground turmeric
generous pinch grated nutmeg
150g sheeps yogurt (or any greek-style yoghurt)
60g sultanas
Handful of fresh coriander leaves (chopped)
salt to taste

Heat oil over a low heat and gently stirfry the onion, garlic and ginger until the onion softens.
In a separate pan pour boiling water over the rice (add a shake of salt if you like), bring back to the boil and simmer until nearly cooked - about 10 minutes.
Add the chicken pieces to the onion and garlic and stir fry for 4-5 minutes until there is no uncooked meat showing on the chunks.
Drain the rice and then rinse with a kettle full of boiling water.
Add the spices to the chicken mixture and stir for about 1 minute, then add the yogurt, sultanas, rice and salt to taste.
Stir to mix everything together, then cover, turn the heat down as low as it will go and leave for 4 or 5 minutes.
Add the coriander leaves and stir.
Remove from heat and allow to sit for another 5 minutes before serving.
Serve with yoghurt and mango chutney on the side. You could have some chopped up tomatoes and cucumber on the side too if you fancied them.

Tonight is Pancake Day! Hooray! I have made my pancake batter in readyness, so its pancakes for tea. With sugar and lemon, of course.
I suspect my pancake flipping will not be up-to-scratch, but I will be having a try anyway!