Its Saturday night, I've defrosted some plump organic chicken breasts and want to do something special with them. Saturday... hmmmm... a perfect night for a curry with a movie, don't you think?
After a browse through the book for a chicken dish, vegetable dish and rice dish bearing in mind the ingredients I have in the house... plus a trip to the shop, I got going.... only to discover that I'm still missing a key item as I'd got parsley instead of coriander... so another trip to the shop (this time the small Asda on the High St 10 mins walk away as can't face going back to the local corner shop again) plus a slight menu change and I'm off on my curry extravaganza!
Menu: Chicken Rogan Josh, Aloo Gobi and Mushroom Rice.
Well, thankfully as I expected, it was all fairly straightforward, but cooking three unknown dishes brings a certain level of confusion! The cook book is simply presented and the instructions beautifully clear - what a treat... I meticulously prepared all the ingredients into little dishes like you see on TV cooking programmes. I think this is essential when cooking curries as you have to 'throw' ingredients into the pan at certain stages & timing is important (you don't want to burn the spices, or anything) - so best to have them all ready and to hand.
And the result (by which time it was almost 10pm - oops) was DELICIOUS!!!! The fresh tomato taste, the light spices, the chunky chicken pieces... the full flavour of the rice from being cooked in veg stock.... unfortunately the potatoes and cauliflower of the aloo gobi were overcooked and very soft, but for a first attempt, I think I did pretty well, thank you!
Forget Indian take-aways - even if they are meant to be 'upmarket'... fresh tastes SO much better, but maybe with a bit more preparation.
Now, when can I do it again?
23.02.13
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