With jobs, relationships, and responsibilities, it might feel like a struggle sometimes to squeeze in a window to cook a wholesome, nutritious and delicious meal for you and your family. No one wants to toil away in the kitchen for hours after a long day, and it’s times like these when an easy recipe that guarantees mouth-watering results comes in handy. Jools Oliver, wife of celebrity chef Jamie Oliver, is renowned for her family-friendly recipes and cooking videos, especially those centred around quick and simple meals. She regularly shares her culinary tips and recipes on Jamie Oliver’s website and social media platforms.
One such easy-to-make, mild and healthy recipe from Jools’ repertoire is her chicken curry. Complete with secret ingredients that make the final dish creamier and tastier, Jools’ easy chicken curry recipe is perfect for toddlers and kids who don’t have a high spice tolerance.
Adding natural yoghurt and creamy coconut milk to this recipe cuts through the spice, rendering it mild on the palate while adding nutritional value. Adding spinach, lentils, and tinned tomatoes also helps get some vegetables into the dish.
Serving six, this super easy chicken curry takes roughly an hour and thirty minutes to make.
How To Make Jools’ Easy Chicken Curry
Ingredients
Olive oil
One onion
Two cloves of garlic
4cm piece of ginger
Three tablespoons natural yoghurt
Two tablespoons tomato purée
Two tablespoons tikka masala paste
Eight skinless boneless chicken thighs
One x 400g tin green lentils
One x 400g tin light coconut milk
One x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
Optional: Two handfuls of baby spinach
Two tablespoons of good quality mango chutney
Method
Peel and slice the onion as well as the garlic and ginger. Finely chop or grate them on a microplane grater.
Heat a generous drizzle of oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for about eight minutes, or until they soften and turn lightly golden, stirring occasionally. Then, incorporate the ginger and garlic, and continue cooking for an additional two minutes.
Simultaneously, take the yoghurt, tomato purée and tikka masala paste and mix them all together in a bowl. Halve the chicken thighs and then add them to the marination bowl. Stir everything together, ensuring the chicken is evenly coated with the paste mixture.
Next, take everything and scrape it into the pan, ensuring all the paste mixture is poured and used. Cook the chicken for approximately five minutes or until you start to see some colour on the protein.
Pour in the tinned tomatoes, drained lentils and coconut milk. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally. Add water in small quantities as needed to achieve the desired consistency.
Once the time is up, stir in the spinach (if you’re using it) and let it wilt. Add in the mango chutney and taste your dish for seasoning.
For ease-of-serving purposes and to achieve that perfect bite – pull the chicken apart with forks and stir it through.
Serve this easy and delicious chicken curry with basmati rice and yoghurt on the side, as per your preference. You can even opt for fragrant lemon rice or naan as a side. You can also devour this meal with some mango pickle or mint chutney, as an add-on to create more flavour layers.
