Easy Chicken Curry is an ideal meal to cook on a self-catering holiday – chicken plus whatever vegetables are available, curry paste and coconut milk are all you need for an easy, tasty supper.

Easy Chicken Curry

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If you’re having a self-catering holiday this year, you want some recipes to make that taste good but don’t take too long to cook. You also need to use ingredients that you can easily take with you or buy in a local supermarket. This month I’m looking at some of the recipes that I use on holiday. If you travel by car you can take more with you than if you fly, but either way, you probably don’t want to spend too much time shopping or cooking when you’re away. Having a few recipes ready helps to reduce the time it takes.

We almost always have a holiday where I cook some of the meals. There have usually been between two and six of us, but the recipes haven’t varied much. If there are fewer of us, the meal lasts an extra day – even easier!

Although we often holiday in France, I take a lot of food with me. I know people write a lot about the joys of shopping at foreign markets and in local shops, but frankly, with up to four children in tow, this isn’t how I’ve wanted to spend my precious time off. I don’t want to spend too much time in the supermarket anywhere, although a browse around a foreign shop can mean some interesting additions to your ingredients.

Food to use for an Easy Chicken Curry

Cooked chicken – I have often cooked a chicken and frozen it to take with me on holiday. Even when travelling to France – a trip of about 16 hours – the chicken will still be frozen in a cool box with ice packs. If you have a freezer at your destination you can stick the chicken in there until you want it, but if not it will happily defrost slowly in the fridge, so you’ve got a couple of days before you have to use it (see note below about fridges). If you’re flying or don’t want the bother, just buy a roasted chicken at your destination. Easily available just about everywhere
Jar of curry paste – It’s easy to pack and use, and takes up less space than curry sauce. I’m a bit picky about them and I like Free & Easy Free From Mild Curry Paste. You can get it in Waitrose and it has no added sugar, as well as no gluten or other allergens. You can probably find something similar at a large supermarket abroad
Coconut milk or cream – take this or buy it. Either way, it adds the liquid you need to a curry – or any dish. If it’s coconut cream you will need additional liquid – I use wine
Vegetables – You will need onions and I’ve given some suggestions based on what I cooked in France last time but, essentially, buy the vegetables that look good and are in season
Oil – Use whatever you would at home. I often buy a small jar of coconut oil when I’m away.

Fridges on holiday are too warm

A tip about fridges in holiday lets is to turn the fridge to a low setting. They are usually not cold enough and food doesn’t keep well. I used to find all the fruit and vegetables went off quickly until I figured that the fridge was too warm. 4°C is the recommended temperature if you’re interested!

So bon voyage! Or enjoy this curry at home. It’s also a recipe that I’ve used a lot if I’m entertaining after a day at work (although in that case, it’s worth having a cooked chicken in the freezer, or packs of Quorn pieces so that you can cook this without much notice).