I haven’t done a curry here yet, so why not start with a whopper. This is all part of my flatmate Peter’s education in preparing hot meals for himself ahead of time, which can then be frozen in individual servings and reheated whenever desired. So food purists (like my friend WeeRascal) will probably object to the over-abundance of ingredients, and in self defense I have to say that I usually keep my curries much simpler.

But this was a bit of an experiment in making a whole whack of curry with lots of extra veg added to make it a healthy all-in-one meal option.

And it was actually quite delicious! Even though I “cheat” by using curry paste – in this case garam masala – which is a hot spicy curry with cinammon & ginger. Smells and tastes gorgeous. For the record, this curry turned out more “soupy/stewy” than my usual ones, which tend to be thicker and more like a sauce. But it was great served on rice or potatoes.

Recipe and instructions below…

• 1/2 to whole head of garlic, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 medium onions, diced
• 3 italian green peppers, diced
• 6 chicken legs (approx 700 grams)
• 200 grams pork chunks
• 4 small carrots, sliced
• 1 large courgette, chopped
• 400 grams frozen spinach, cooked and drained
• 1 – 560 gram jar of garbanzos, rinsed and drained
• 1 – 160 gram tin of sweet corn
• 2 – 410 gram tins of chopped tomatoes
• 1/2 – 285 gram jar of Patek’s curry paste
• 1 cup (250 grams) water
• 2 – 125 gram containers greek yoghurt
• light olive oil or sunflower oil
• sea salt to taste

Sautée the onion, garlic and peppers in about a tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan/skillet until the onion is translucent, then transfer to a large pot. Add the chopped carrots to this mixture.

Add the chicken legs to the same pan, adding a bit more oil if needed, brown on both sides until about half-way cooked through and place on top of the veggie mix in the large pot.

Brown the pork in the same pan, again adding a bit more oil if needed, and once nicely browned add the curry paste, stirring it around quickly to absorb the oil and juices, then add the tomatoes. Keep stirring and once the tomato mixture starts to bubble pour it over the chicken & veg mixture in the pot, add the cup of water, stir well, and put the large pot onto the heat. When it starts to bubble, turn down to med-low, cover and let cook for about 45 minutes (or until chicken starts falling off the bone), stirring about every ten minutes.

Remove the chicken bones and skin from the curry and discard, add the remaining ingredients (garbanzos, corn, spinach and courgettes) and simmer on a low heat for another 20 minutes or so. Allow to cool for about half an hour,  then add salt to taste and the greek yoghurt, stir well and serve.

[click to enlarge]