Chicken and apple curry

How many times do you feel like taking the plane and flying away from the daily routine of your stressful lives? I often do! That’s why I love to try various ethnic cuisines, so I feel as though I am travelling even though I’m staying at home - I can enjoy new tastes and fly off with my imagination! With this recipe I’m taking a direct ticket to India: what are we making? It’s a chicken curry with apples. The combination may seem unusual and you may wonder what we are doing with a green and crispy Granny Smith apple in a main course of Indian chicken curry. Well, because it tastes great! The curry powder we’re making for this recipe has a strong flavour of cinnamon, a spice that enhances and perfectly complements the taste of the apple. The same apple, for its part, provides a slight crunchiness and a pleasant acidity to the dish. The result is truly amazing. Obviously, you should serve basmati rice as an accompaniment!

Cut the chicken into large cubes and put them in a bowl to marinate with the soy sauce, the finely chopped garlic and a little cumin. Let it marinate until all the other ingredients are ready. Now make the curry: for the uninitiated, the curry or masala is not a single spice, but a mixture of spices and in India every family has its own recipe. The base of each masala has cumin, black pepper, coriander and turmeric. There are many variations; the following was invented by me. Grind the cardamom seeds, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and then add the other ground spices. This curry has cinnamon which will give it a sweeter and more romantic taste. Cut the vegetables and the apple, trying to keep them all roughly the same large dice-size, like the chicken. Take a clay casserole, heat some oil and then brown the chicken. Once that is done, add the rest of the vegetables. Fry, adding the curry and a dash of white wine and cover with lid. Cook for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare a little water with a teaspoon of flour dissolved in it. Uncover the pot and add to this mixture the grated zest of a lime. Cook for 5 minutes, remove from the heat and serve. I recommend you serve chicken curry with basmati rice.