Cumin Chicken

I've now lost all hope in surviving the next eight weeks of the husband's diet.  I thought that this low fat curry might be a keeper, but sadly not.  It was the way he looked at it when it was put in front of him that told me I'd wasted my time in the kitchen.  I so nearly gave him a fiver to go and buy his tea from the chippie.

However, I quite enjoyed this dish.  I made a small error by adding yogurt (an optional extra) and this curdled the sauce which slightly detracted from the presentation by putting tiny grainy blobs in the liquid.

It was really quick to cook.  I think I spent more time hunting through the cupboards looking for my chilli powder (didn't find it) than I did actually cooking the dish.

One word of warning - if you make this, take care when frying the mustard seeds.  It said fry them for thirty seconds.  After ten seconds, they were popping and jumping out of the pan and scattered all over the kitchen floor.  It may be to do with the size and shape of the frying pan I used.  But don't do this if you've got exposed skin or small people in the vicinity of the cooker - they fly quite a long way.

The blog I found this recipe from explains variations on the dish and how the author had no yogurt one day and so made the sauce with just a stock-base instead.  I also noted that whilst the recipe states to use  tinned tomatoes, the instructions don't tell you when to put them in.  As I had some fresh toms in, I cut one into large chunks and added it with the veg then threw in the tinned toms after the chicken had fried.

I'm guessing this is why mine looked nothing like the picture on the website (I wasn't really going for outstanding presentation anyway) but the sauce in the picture clearly lacks the tomatoes.  But for the thicker, yogurty sauce, I'm sure they're essential.

http://www.greatcurryrecipes.net/2012/04/30/how-to-make-cumin-chicken/  It was so nice to be able to make a quicky, tasty curry without having to resort to a jar sauce, like I normally would for a curry for the husband.  He's always whining that the Loyd Grossman sauces have changed and have no taste.  So I cook him a tasty curry and he still moans.  http://www.greatcurryrecipes.net/2012/04/30/how-to-make-cumin-chicken/

Not long to go now - less than 90 days and counting!

You can find the recipe here.