One Pot Cooking

Friday night is curry and beer night! A fine and noble tradition in the household. Though, I didn't have time to do a traditional curry this week. So let me take you through the one-pot slow cooked not quite a curry dish we enjoyed.

The first step was to brown some onions. I did that in mustard oil, which went onto some coriander seeds, lemon grass, star anise, and sezuan pepper that were gently toasted. In the picture here you see I've also added a nice handful of curry leaves.

Step two was adding a layer of rice over the onion - making sure to take out the star anise first.

To go along with 750grams/1.5lbs of chicken there was a lemon, a plantain, six tomatoes and fresh coriander - oh, and a red chilli which is out of shot here.

For the liquid part there is a tin of coconut milk, a tin of cannellini beans and their liquor, a chicken stock pot, and a quarter of a tub of minced garlic and ginger, as well as a good spoonfull of mixed chilli paste.

Lemon on top of the rice flesh side down so the lemon soaks down into the rice.

Now add in the chicken, tomato, plantain, and fresh chilli. Normally I'd deseed and skin the tomato but I was pressed for time, and also wanted the moisture from the tomato in the dish. As you see, the chicken is cut to generous chunks. For most dishes I'd have browned the chicken first, but I wanted it to poach in the coconut milk.

Next, it's time for the liquid. You can see a few of the cannellini beans poking through here.

Finally, that fresh coriander is roughly chopped and sprinkled on top. Then, lid on and slow cook for six hours on low heat.

The result? Not a pretty plate of food, but the flavor was great. The chicken was nice and moist and the layers of flavors and heat worked wonderfully. Washed down nicely with our favorite Friday night beer, a Red Stripe.

text and pictures by stuartcturnbull