Coconut chicken curry

This recipe for coconut chicken curry is clearly inspired by Indian cookery. Many Indians, as you probably know, don’t eat either beef or pork: Muslims don’t eat pork at any time, and Hindus can’t include beef in their diet. However, Indian cuisine is rich in strong, intense flavours usually obtained using a spice mix referred to under the generic name of ‘curry’. If you go to India, bear in mind that you will not hear people talk about curry but more probably ‘masala’. Also note that Indian cuisine has its own geographical variations: usually, recipes from the north of the country contain more meat, whilst those from the south emphasise vegetables; both make use of spices and milk products. It seems that our chef has been inspired today by the typical style of northern India, and has made this coconut chicken curry. Let’s see what it’s like.

Dice the chicken breast, put it in a small bowl, add salt, and a teaspoon of cumin, ½ teaspoon of coriander and 2 teaspoons of ginger. Cut the onion into half-moon slices and cook for a minute in a pan with some oil. Add the chicken and cook for about two minutes. Take the coconut (which you have already opened) and grate about 30g then cut another 30g in small pieces (set aside the liquid). Sauté for two minutes in the pan along with the rest of the ingredients, then add the coconut liquid. Add two teaspoons of cornflour and mix well. When you see it beginning to thicken, remove from the heat, add a teaspoon of ginger and 3 tablespoons of white yoghurt. Serve accompanied by basmati rice.