Fruity curry

I love curry and there are so many different types of curry out there. I have eaten and cooked many types of curries, but not a fruity type. Rob often said that he has eaten curry with sultanas, and I have often found the idea of a sweet curry to be a bit odd. This particular curry recipe is an original, which sorta came out in an attempt to be innovative with my cooking. Many Middle Eastern cuisines often feature fruits in their spicy dishes (Moroccan tagines is one example that comes to mind) so I quelled my doubts about fruits in curries, took a deep breath in and a surprisingly yummy dish resulted. I actually wanted to add a can of beans, but decided against the idea as I did not want to make this dish too complicated.

This is a simple dish, with no extravagant methods. I was thinking Middle Eastern flavours so I didn't use potatoes, coconut milk or yogurt that have often featured in my curry recipes. Don't worry if you don't have the additional spices - the curry powder ought to suffice for flavour. You can use fresh fruits and tomatoes, but canned ones are convenient and perhaps cheaper. And like I keep saying for all my curry recipes, this curry tastes better the next day - gives the curry time for all the flavours to develop and meld together.

Oh, and a sidenote: since there aren't any potatoes in this dish, it is safe to freeze it. I froze a portion for the couple of weeks we were in Perth, and interestingly, the sauce in this portion was quite a bit sweeter than when we had it fresh. A bit of science here to attempt an explanation. The sugary components of the fruits in the dish thawed out quicker than the water (think of an icypole - you can suck out all the sweet stuff and leave behind the bland ice; same idea with frozen juice - the ice itself takes longer to melt) and hence was expelled into the curry sauce. That's what I think anyway.



Ingredients

600g chicken breast fillet, cut into bite-sized chunks
2 tablespoons Malay-style curry powder for meat
1 tablespoon soy sauce
a pinch of salt
2-3 tablespoons oil (I use olive)
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 teaspoons chopped ginger
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon ground paprika
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/2 teaspoon ground cinammon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1x410g can of chopped tomatoes
1x410g can of peaches in syrup, drained and chopped into chunks (reserve syrup)
a handful of raisins/sultanas

Method

1. Marinate the chicken chunks with half the curry powder, soy sauce, and salt for a few hours or overnight.
2. In a pan over high heat, fry the onion with the oil until the onion begins to brown.
3. Turn down the heat to medium high, add the ginger and garlic and stirfry for half a minute.
4. Add the spices and toast them for half a minute, then add the chicken chunks to the pan and stirfry for a minute or two.
5. Turn down the heat and stir in the chopped tomatoes (juice and all) and the chopped peaches and bring to a bubbling simmer.
6. I would usually add a bit of sugar to cut the acidity of the tomatoes, and in this case I used perhaps 1/4 cup of the reserved syrup. You can add more to taste, but I wanted only a touch of sweetness to the dish.
7. At this point there should be plenty of liquid to cover the chicken chunks (if not, add water). Simmer on low heat (it should be barely bubbling) for a good 20 minutes, stirring only occasionally - I wanted all the flavours to blend well together for a more flavoursome dish.
8. In the last 5 minutes of the cooking, add the sultanas/raisins and stir well.
9. Serve with rice and veges for a healthy and balanced meal.