Easy Chicken Curry

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

If you're having a self-catering holiday, 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. 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.

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).

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Easy Chicken Curry

Easy Chicken Curry - a quick, tasty supper using cooked chicke. Supplement with a tin of lentils if needed.

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Total Time1 hr 10 mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: British

Keyword: easy entertaining, self-catering

Servings: 6 servings

Author: [email protected] Cooks

Ingredients

• 1 cooked chicken
• 2 medium onions
• 200 g mushrooms
• 150 g green beans
• 2 sweet potatoes
• ½ small cauliflower
• 1 pepper, red, green or yellow
• Oil
• 190 g jar curry paste, see note
• 400 ml coconut milk, 1 can
• 400 g canned chopped tomatoes, optional

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Instructions

Preparation:

• Strip the meat from the chicken and tear/cut into pieces - 2-3 times bite-size

Prepare the vegetables:

• Peel and chop the onions
• Wash and slice the mushrooms
• Trim the beans and cut into 2-3 pieces
• Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into bite-size chunks
• Wash and chop the cauliflower into small florets
• Wash and chop the pepper
• Prepare any other vegetables that you have, keeping the pieces 1-2 bites big

For the curry:

• Heat a large frying pan on a medium-high heat and add about 2 tablespoons oil
• Brown the onions and cook the mushrooms if using and remove to a plate for later

  If you have 2 pans, cook the mushrooms separately
• Fry the vegetables to soften and start to brown, starting with the ones that take the longest to cook. Add each set of vegetables in as the previous is done

  (Add more oil if needed)
• Hard vegetables like cauliflower, carrots, potato/sweet potato first

  Medium veg like French beans, sugar snap peas, courgette next, adding back in the onions

  Peppers and leeks last
• Add the chicken and mushrooms and stir well to start it heating through
• Add the curry paste and half of the coconut milk. Mix it all together thoroughly, then add the rest of the coconut milk

  If you need more liquid, add wine or a tin of chopped tomatoes, or a little water
• Bring to the boil and turn the heat down and simmer for 30-40 minutes
• Serve with rice.

Notes

Everyday Cooks Tips:

To make Easy Chicken Curry Gluten-Free:

• Check the curry paste ingredients