Chicken curry, basmati rice and coriander yoghurt

by Paul Warburton on 11 June 2010  |  13 comments
Tweet

Check out this amazing recipe for my chicken curry, basmati rice and coriander yoghurt – for £1.50 per person!

Welcome to our new Frugal Recipe blog! If you're registered on lovemoney.com, you can follow this blog and find new posts as soon as they are published, via your personal homepage. Never miss a frugal recipe again - register now.

My chicken curry, basmati rice and coriander yoghurt (Serves 4)

This is the way I like to cook a curry. I don’t believe there is a right or wrong way when it comes to curry – just do what you think feels right! I always use chicken thighs and legs as you get a greater depth of flavour, it feels more authentic and you get to gnaw on the bones as an added bonus.

Ingredients

• 1.1kg of freedom food corn fed chicken and thighs (£2.64)
• 2 large onions (26p)
• 500g of basic natural yoghurt (45p)
• 1 400g can of chick peas (31p)
• 1 400ml can of coconut milk (57p)
• 500g of basmati rice (84p)
• 3 green chilies (12p)
• 28g of fresh coriander (79p)

The cupboard staples…

Salt, black pepper, sunflower oil, turmeric, cumin, ground ginger, garam masala, mustard seeds, 1 chicken stock cube and 6 cloves of garlic

Total cost

If you already have the cupboard staples, then according to mysupermarket.co.uk, this trolley was cheapest at Sainsbury’s where it came to £5.98 - that's £1.50 per head!

Instructions

• Ok, let’s start by getting a good big thick bottomed sauce pan on to a medium heat. Slice the onions, get some sunflower oil in the pan and fry the onions gently until they soften a little. Now for the spices.
• It’s simple as we’ll use 2 teaspoons of all the spices listed. So once the onion has softened add the turmeric, cumin, garam masala, ground ginger (fresh if you have) and mustard seeds. Cook the spices out watching they don’t burn (add a little more oil if it looks like it’s catching on the bottom of the pan) for about 2 minutes. Then add 6 cloves of finely chopped garlic and the green chilies (seeds included, finely chopped) and cook for a further minute on a medium heat.
• Now turn the heat up and add 1 pint of chicken stock. You want to get all the flavour from the bottom of the pan so give it a good stir and make sure the stock is bubbling away. Reduce this down for around 1 minute and then add the chicken (make sure you season the chicken with salt and pepper before adding to the pan). Bring down to a low heat and simmer for 30 minutes with a lid on.
• After 30 minutes add the coconut milk and chickpeas and cook for a further 15 minutes on a low heat with the lid off.
• Cook the rice as you would usually. Whilst the rice is cooking you can make the coriander yoghurt. Finely chop the coriander and add about two thirds of it to 300ml of yoghurt, add a few twists of black pepper and stir well.
• The chicken curry will be ready now. So just take off the heat and add the remaining coriander to the curry.
• Serve with the rice and a good drizzle of the coriander yoghurt - happy eating!

A bit about the Frugal Recipes chef, Paul Warburton

Paul Warburton, a lovemoney.com staff member, had a hectic career in the world of hot kitchens and screaming chefs before joining the lovemoney.com products development team.

Related goal

Cut your food bills

As food prices continue to rise, here's some handy ways to keep your food bills under control.

Do this goal

During these years, under the tutorage of some great chefs, he honed his skills in cooking for numbers within a tight cost and portion-controlled environment.

Now he's planning to regularly offer his help to all budding chefs in the lovemoney.com community, so you can enjoy his original, low-cost recipes with your family and friends every Friday for free!

What lovemoney.com readers have said about Paul's other recipes

"We enjoyed this recipe very much: easy to make and even easier to eat!" varneyrob

“Thanks Paul, another great tasting easy recipe. It was my first risotto attempt ever and it was great, I even impressed my in-laws with it. Many thanks...” welshlady

"I made this recipe and it was absolutely delicious! Seriously good! Five of us feasted on it, and feasted well..." Ibeshy

"I made this recipe on Saturday night, and my 13 year-old son promptly requested it again for the following night!" Malcolm Wheatley

"This is a cracking risotto recipe. Just had it for lunch & it's a winner. More recipes please. Thanks." SavvyLass

"Another delicious offering from Paul. Thank you - keep 'em coming!" Palefire

Please add your own comments using the comments box below!

If you like this recipe, why not also try Paul's other Frugal Recipes:    

Barbecued whole mackerel and a spicy lime salsa | Moussaka | Pan fried trout fillets with a dill potato salad | Chicken braised with cider and red cabbage (and proper baked potatoes) | Lincolnshire sausages with red onion gravy and thyme and Gouda polenta | Beef enchiladas with a lime sour cream | Slow roasted duck legs and charlotte potatoes with a carrot and cumin salad | Paella | Asparagus and gruyere tart with new potatoes | Haddock fishcakes with radish and watercress salad and lemon crème fraiche dressing | Prawn and pea risotto Honey roasted gammon and apples with champ | Hot chocolate fondants with crème Chantilly | Shin of beef, kidney and ale pie Tandoori chicken with coconut rice & mint raita | Homemade gnocchi with a tomato & thyme sauce, spinach and ricotta  | Frugal Pancakes | Griddled black pudding, chimichurri mash and caramelised apples  | Mixed bean and coriander green curry with fragrant rice  | Lamb koftas with a feta, mint and chickpea salad & chilli grilled pittas  | Pork, rosemary and white bean ravioli with a chilli tomato sauce  | Sausage & leek casserole with parsley dumpings | Pork, chorizo & cannellini bean stew | Rabbit, bacon & thyme pie | Potato rosti with creamed spinach and poached egg | Pumpkin and sage risotto | Slow braised oxtail with autumn mash | Spiced whole mackerel with chickpea salad | Twice cooked belly pork (with gravy) parsnips and sweet apple red cabbage | Roasted pheasant | Portobello mushroom, port and stilton wellington | Lemon tart with fresh vanilla mascarpone | Massaman curry |  Smoked mackerel pate on crostini and red onion confit  |Rolled breast of lamb with garlic mash and Savoy cabbage | Lemon & rosemary chicken thighs |  Thai Pollock curry with egg noodles | Chunky pea and ham soup| Spaghetti alla carbonara | Pork stroganoff | Green chilli meat balls, sunflower seed couscous salad and mint yoghurt |  Tagliatelle with air dried cured ham and minted peas | Beef, thyme and mushroom loaf with potato dauphinoise | Mixed bean and coriander green curry with fragrant rice | Egg Florentine with smoked cheddar and rocket salad | Beef, mushroom and thyme pie | Spicy tuna, bean and coriander lasagne |  Beef koftas with a feta, spinach and fresh mint salad | Chorizo and pea risotto | Sausage and rosemary hotpot | Beef & thyme (Lancashire) hotpot

Remember, if you're registered on lovemoney.com, you can follow this blog and find new posts as soon as they are published, via your personal homepage. Never miss a frugal recipe again - register now.