Curry chicken & chickpea stew

 

If your Monday-to-Friday schedule is like mine, you probably don’t have much time to whip up a fancy meal. The last thing you want is to make dinner but the Mr. Noodle soup mix and that questionable two-week old left over Mac and Cheese isn’t really doing it for you anymore. So how about something healthy, super easy and super quick?

Okay first thing’s first, make sure you have all the ingredients. I usually cut corners as much as I can (I’m not ashamed to admit it). I usually pick one of those packets of curry paste up at my grocery store in the “Asian Isle”. Doesn’t matter what brand but I like the “Kitchens of India.”

Here’s the list of  ingredients I’ve thrown into the mix. By all means get creative people because my list was not meant to blow minds.

INGREDIENTS

• Curry paste of your choice
• 250 ml of water
• 1 tbsp coconut oil/olive oil
• 1 yellow onion
• 1 red pepper
• 4 chicken breasts/chicken thighs/ bone in or with bones whatever you have
• 1 14-oz. can of chickpeas (drain them)
• 1 14-oz. can of fire-roasted tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cups of spinach
• 1 lime (cut into wedges)
• Plain greek yogurt (this will cut the spiciness down to tolerable – or you can use regular sour cream)
• Tomato paste (have this ready in case your sauce is not thick enough)
• Cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste

Optional/highly suggested

• Naan bread
• Basmati rice

Okay, so this list sounds random but trust me, it works. It’s super-filling, even better for left overs and your husband isn’t going to complain in one hour that he’s starving.

INSTRUCTIONS

• Chop up the onion and red pepper into long slivered pieces and throw them in with the olive oil, salt and pepper and let them sauté (2 – 3 mins).
• Then add the curry paste along with 250ml of water.
• Stir until everything is mixed up well.
• Place your chickens, drained chickpeas and the fire-roasted tomatoes into the sauce. Cover the lid and let it simmer for at least 20 minutes or until the chicken is cooked thoroughly – stir occasionally.
• Once the chicken is cooked, taste the sauce. Too spicy? Not enough flavour? Calm down.  Now’s the time to add in the yogurt (make sure it’s plain yogurt – vanilla flavoured yogurt is not going to work here). You can also add in more salt and pepper if it’s needed.
• Add in the spinach to stir – I like squeezing a lime in there for a bit of tartiness.
• If the sauce is too watery, add in your tomato paste until the sauce thickens to your liking. I usually need two spoonfuls of the paste.
• Once all of it is cooked and the spinach has wilted, scoop a good amount of rice into a big bowl then scoop a hearty amount of the curry chicken on top.

Toppings: Sprinkle with freshly WASHED cilantro, a lime wedge and stick a couple of naan bread slices in there for good measure. VOILA! You have a hearty, stewy chicken dish you’ll be proud of.