Chicken and Banana Curry

I thought I’d tried most Indian-based dishes, but Chicken and Banana Curry from Pinch of Nom is a new one for me. This mild, fruity recipe tastes a bit like a Kashmiri which sometimes contain mango and lychee. Or if you’re ordering from my dodgy local curry house a tin of supermarket fruit cocktail, much to my wife’s annoyance as she expects them to use fresh fruit, which always amuses me. In fairness, her gripe is valid when you’re paying over £7 for a main course per person!

The beauty about Pinch of Nom’s ‘fakeaway’ is that it costs as little as £1.27 per serving to make yourself (without rice or naan) and it’s something a bit different. If mild curries are your thing, check out chicken korma, low-cal chicken tikka masala, chicken biryani and chicken bhuna which are all simple to recreate.

Recipe: Chicken and Banana Curry

Calories: 346 per serving (without rice or naan)

Serves: 4

Book: Pinch of Nom – Quick and Easy

Prep time: Approx 15 mins

Cooking time: Approx 40 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 onion (peeled and quartered)
• 3 garlic cloves (peeled)
• 1 red chilli (deseeded)
• 5cm piece of root ginger (peeled)
• Low-calorie cooking spray
• 1 tbsp garam masala
• 50g ground almonds
• 500ml chicken stock (1 chicken stock cube, dissolved in 500ml boiling water)
• 500g chicken breasts cut into chunks (skin and visible fat removed)
• 2 tsp cornflour
• 140g fat-free Greek yoghurt
• 3 bananas (peeled and sliced)
• Sea salt
• Ground black pepper
• 4g fresh coriander (chopped)

Cost per portion: Approx £1.27 (without rice or naan)

Method:

Place the onion, garlic, chilli and ginger in a food processor and blend to a paste. Alternatively, chop very finely.

Spray a large frying pan with low-calorie cooking spray and place over a medium heat. Add the paste and fry for 10 minutes, stirring to avoid sticking. Add the garam masala, ground almonds and chicken stock and mix.

Add the chicken and simmer for 25 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked right through. Mix the cornflour with the yoghurt and add to the frying pan. Simmer for 2 minutes until it starts to thicken, stirring well. Add the banana and cook for a further 2 minutes to heat through.

Season with salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle with the chopped coriander and serve. The curry can also be frozen once cooled (make sure the dish is defrosted completely before reheating).