Recipe: Chicken Korma

Since my first year of Uni, I've only had three major cooking disasters. One involved some charred chicken, one involved a potato in a microwave and a lot of black smoke, and the third was not my fault, but the pans...or more accurately, the electric cooker rings. I personally think they're more dangerous than gas ones, but any idiot with no intention of cooking with a gas fire is the reason we're stuck with these.
Anyway, pan coating - it comes off cheap pans and makes your food taste nasty. If you're not a budding chef, a couple of cheap stainless steel pans will do for you. My boyfriend and I are on our second set of pans and our ceramic pot replacement (for stews). We now have stainless steel gear and hope we'll have more luck with it!

Anyway! On to the recipe! Well..it's not so much a recipe as a set of instructions. It's a totally simple dish, that's not insanely bad for you (well, at least better than microwave junk), really yummy, really filling and actually pretty cheap if you know where to get everything.

Chicken Korma!

This was one of our favourite meals for an entire semester. It serves either four quite neatly, or two with leftovers for lunch the next day (it tastes just as good cold!)

You will need:

-Korma sauce (cheapest place to buy sauces is usually Home Bargains - Pataks Korma, our fav is only 69p a jar there, as opposed to Asda where it's about £1.50!)

-Easy cook rice - the cheap stuff. There's not much difference when it comes to this kind of rice. If you have no confidence with real rice, feel free to use microwave stuff if you can stomach it.

-2-4 Chicken breasts. Lol, I said breasts on the internet. Make sure they're within date, fully defrosted (you can freeze meat on day of purchase and use within 3 months, you can also defrost in the microwave if you forget to take it out the night before)

-Naan bread. Whatever flavour, brand or size you like. Asda's own are a pretty good deal, we tend to get 2 packs of 2 naans for about £1


Instructions:

1. Boil a half kettle of water. Get large pan ready for the rice.
2. Whilst the kettle is boiling, wash the rice in a sieve. Use about 1 cup per 2 people - it expands by 300% when cooked!
3. Once the rice is clean, place it in a pan and pour in the just-boiled water til the rice is about an inch under.
4.Leave the rice on a medium-high heat until boiling - then remove from heat and put a lid on, stirring periodically and adding a bit more water if it looks a little dry.
5. Cut the chicken breasts into bite sized chunks and pour some vegetable oil into a frying pan. Cook the chicken on a medium heat until white all over. Cut a larger chunk in half if you think they're done, to make sure there is no hint of pink in the centre. If need be, let the chicken brown a smidge.
6.Pour the korma sauce into the frying pan with the chicken once it's cooked, simmer it gently for about 20 minutes or however long that particular brand needs. Believe me, sauces taste different if they've not been properly cooked through for long enough. Stir it to make sure it doesn't boil over or burn to the bottom of the pan (a common problem with electric hobs)
7. When you have about 5 mins to go, sprinkle some cold water on your naans and place them on a grill or baking tray under a hot grill, turning halfway through cooking time.
8. When everything comes together, you'll be enjoying some true student comfort food.

:)


Warning: Remember to be SO careful handling raw chicken. Wash EVERYTHING it has touched, including your hands, VERY carefully! I can't stress this enough, food poisoning is the worst, you don't want it.