FLOWER POT KITCHEN: BEST EVER LEFT OVER TURKEY ROGAN JOSH CURRY

1 Jan 2017

BEST EVER LEFT OVER TURKEY ROGAN JOSH CURRY

This is so good you won't even know it is left over Christmas Day Turkey!!! So fragrant and full of flavour not heat (optional) this is a new best for our Christmas curry and I will not be going back. This was so good I had to remove the spoon while it rested or their would not be enough left to feed the family, ops... this would not be the first time that has happened!!!

Prep Time 10 minutes / Cooking Time 30 minutes

Ingredients

(serves 4)

Fresh Fragrant Ingredients

2 tbsp ghee

1 onions finely diced

3 cloves garlic finely diced

2 tbsp finely grated ginger

Whole Spices

1/2 about 4" long stick cinnamon

8 cardamom pods bashed half open

2 whole cloves

Dry Spices

1 tbsp turmeric

1 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp ground coriander

1 tbsp kashmiri chilli powder

1 pinch mace powder

1 tsp sea salt

1 tsp garam masala toasted

1 tsp toasted fennel seeds

Curry Ingredients

500g chicken thigh or breast diced

3 tbsp tomato puree

400ml water or stock

Finishing Ingredients

50ml double cream

125g natural yogurt

1/2 bunch roughly chopped coriander

1 tsp garam masala

Heat a saucepan medium hot and add the ghee once melted add all the whole spices and gently fry for a couple of minutes, next add the onion and garlic and soften for around 15 minutes, add the ginger and fry for a further couple of minutes before adding all the dry spices, stir in well.

Add the chicken and coat well in all the spices then add the water and tomato puree, stir in and bring to a low gentle simmer, pop on a lid and cook for around 30 minutes, take the lid off and reduce the sauce if needed, I like a lot of sauce!

To serve stir in the cream, yogurt and coriander and adjust seasoning if required. Serve with fluffy rice and warm flat breads for dunking and scoping up this wonderful curry.

This fabulous hand painted tiffin tin came from India and I absolutely love it...

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LIFE MY PASSION

Welcome to my daily life of cooking, one winters day many years ago my family and I were all inspired by a back to back rainy day of River Cottage this got us to stop talking about and start actually doing, suddenly three weeks later eight vegetable beds were dug, greenhouse erected and our first vegetables were propagating, this was the start to raising and growing our own food, our fabulous son Oscar changed our path in life which lead us to sell our small thriving restaurant of 10 yrs and to start our new life (Terrifying!) a life of the self sufficient in touch with nature and seasons, taking a step back and looking forward to a slower change of pace and making the most of every moment.

My passion for cooking was stronger than ever and having time at home with Oscar I found I had a new direction and I was no longer striving for perfection, I was suddenly very passionate for the enjoyment of the other side of food, something I had not realised, being the Chef/Cook and every other duty of your own small restaurant made me see that I never actually took time to cook what I wanted!

So there I was muddy boots and hands digging deep in more than one sense and I found myself transported back in time to where everyone grew some of their own food, it is a wonderful world with a real sense of achievement and loss, Slugs Snails and Caterpillars! But thats another story! Childhood memories of summers when I lived with my grand parents reminded me of so much that I had learnt about the make do and mend generation that I had forgotten.

Now as a family we love our free wild food days where we gather what nature has provided, have gone from being mini mini garden urban small holders, who did raised pigs at home because we could not wait to find land and supporting ourselves from our garden to now owning a very small farm that allows us to grow more vegetables for the whole of our family and neighbours, raise our own gorgeous Gloucestershire Old Spot pigs, (Sausages!) and pets! Dorset Down sheep, chickens for eggs and pet goats! Suddenly having large quantities of produce started to wake up the Cook in me!

The Cook was awake that part of me that wants to cook for the masses and I found myself setting up Flowerpot Kitchen, a Farmers Market Stall, I wanted to use our honest raised meats and make old fashioned pork pies, rabbit pies and game pies from the local game keeper along with old fashioned techniques and the best hot water crust pastry. This in turn grew to a small cottage industry from home weekly supplying three farm shops and a deli along with also attending three farmers markets A few years later there came a time when my son Oscar's health changed and it was an easy decision to stop.

I still hold the occasional pop up 40 seater restaurant or gourmet lunch which we do for local charities for the love of sharing food and to remind that Cook in me why I love our go slower self sufficient life!

So here I am sitting amoung the vegetables watching the chickens loving that every season nature teaches me something new and that nature is in charge! She has taught me to just go with it and grow. Give it a try from a tray of salad on your windowsill to a few tomato plants it all counts.