A Curry in a Hurry!

'Chilled Out' Tikka Masala

Monday night is usually curry night in our house, it's a great way to use up any roast chicken or beef or even lamb or pork that may have been leftover from Sunday Lunch.....there's just one problem, we all love the exotic flavours of curry but we don't like the heat!

Why do people love a hot curry? or rather why do 'men' love a hot curry? and the hotter the better it seems! they even have competitions to see who can eat the hottest! Crazy if you ask me!

According to scientific research there is a reason for men loving curry and it's all to do with their testosterone levels, or what makes yer man a 'man'......so the hotter the curry that a man can eat, the higher his testosterone levels,....in other words 'real men' eat hot curries....apparently! mmmm, a 'hot' man, eating a hot curry #yum!  That's all very well but what is all that chilli doing to their palates?


I do not like my curry with a lot of heat as in an excessive amount of chilli being used, the minute the heat from the chilli kicks in, my taste buds go on strike and that's the end of the flavour-fest in my mouth, even with a drink of milk between bites!

Because of that I will always make my curry from scratch, it may sound time consuming but if you use a tomato sauce base it cuts down on  the length of cooking time considerably!

My favourite curry dish is Tikka Masala which is traditionally pieces of chicken marinated in yoghurt with spices, baked in an oven then served in a sauce....Masala spice mix or 'Tikka' paste usually contains... garlic, ginger, onion, garam masala and chilli paste... you can now buy tikka paste in pretty much any supermarket and you can of course buy the 'cook-in' sauces, but beware of additives and hidden sugars! But as it is so easy to get the required spices to gain that authentic flavour you can make your own and you know exactly what has gone in to it!

As we are using leftover cooked chicken for this dish we won't be marinating the chicken, but by the time the sauce is fully cooked and the chicken has heated through, it will have absorbed all the lovely spice flavours.
This curry is also a great way of getting some extra vegetables into your kids diets, the thick sauce hides them well and of course alters the flavours......and kids seem to love curries.

you will need: for 4 people

400 g cooked chicken cut into cubes or shredded  as you like

200 g cooked chickpeas (about 1 tin)

2 tablespoons sunflower oil

1 small onion

1 stick celery

200 g butter nut squash

1/2 pint water

2 tablespoons tikka paste

400 ml of 'Cheat's tomato sauce' (click here for recipe)

200 ml coconut milk

2 tablespoons sweet mango chutney

how to make your curry:

• peel and cut the onion into small pieces, slice the celery quite thin, 
• peel and cut the squash into small bite size pieces
• heat the oil in a deep heavy bottomed saucepan, add the onion, celery and squash and fry a little but don't let it brown, add the tikka paste and mix well, turn the heat down low, put a lid on the pot and cook gently for 2-3 minutes
• add the water and chick peas and continue cooking until the squash is almost tender but still has a little bite,
• by now, much of the water will have evaporated,  add the tomato sauce, coconut milk and mix really well, add the chicken, bring to the boil, add the mango chutney for a little sweetness, and simmer for about another 10 minutes until the chicken is thoroughly heated through

You can serve this curry with the usual rice, naan bread or poppadums.

 If you find that the spice is too mild then you can always add another spoonful of the tikka paste  when cooking, you can always add more spice but it's impossible to make it cooler! so start out with just a little.