Recipe: Creamy Chicken Curry (low cal)

This recipe comes from the 5:2 Diet Recipe book by Jacqueline Whitehart. So far I have cooked three recipes from the book and this is the only one I really liked, one of the others was nice,  but not worth the effort it took and the other just wasn't my thing. This one, however, is fabulous.

Prep time 10min, cooking time about 55min, but you can go away and leave it in that time because it's simmering.

This makes a lovely creamy, sweet curry with a tomato and onion base. My husband didn't even realise it was an onion base, however, because it cooks down to something like a soft chunky soup. You could use potatoes or Quorn or even lentils instead of chicken if you wanted to go with a vegetarian version. The chicken is literally a texture to take the sauce rather than offering much flavour so anything would work.

If you like more bite use hot chilli powder :).

Creamy Chicken Curry (245 kCal per serving, serves 4)

• 1tbsp vegetable oil (I used a couple of squirts of 1Cal spray oil and it worked fine which will take the cal count down even lower)
• 1tsp cumin seeds
• 1/4 tsp black mustard seeds (I didn't have these so I used 1/8th tsp white mustard seeds and 1/8th tsp black onion seeds which tasted nice :))
• 2 onions, finely chopped
• 3 chicken breasts, cut into chunks (no skin)
• 2 tsp turmeric
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 tsp mild chilli powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 can tomatoes (400g tin)
• 125ml water
• 100g baby spinach
• 2 tbsp mango chutney
• 4 tbsp (60ml) light crème fraiche (I used the 3% be good to yourself version from Morrisons)

Instructions

1. Heat the oil on medium either in a casserole or lidded saucepan (you will need the lid while simmering later).
2. Add the cumin and the mustard seeds (or substitute) and fry  for 1min or until they sizzle.
3. Turn the heat right down (I removed the pan from the heat for a while because it was too hot) and add the onions. Sweat down with the lid on until they are soft and translucent. Usually takes 5mins or so.
4. Add the rest of the spices and stir thoroughly.
5. Add the chicken and stir to coat, but do not brown it.
6. Add the tomatoes and water and bring to the boil.
7. Turn down the heat, add the lid and simmer for 40 mins.
8. Stir in the spinach and cook for 1-2 mins until it is completely wilted.
9. Add the mango chutney and crème fraiche and stir, returning to the heat to make sure it is hot before serving.

I think it's the mango chutney that really makes this, but I'm sure the cinnamon helps. Very tasty.

The original recipe says it can be frozen. I just made it for two using half the amounts shown :).