Chicken and sweet potato curry served on lentils

The great thing about curries for me is their diversity. Some are robust and rustic and others are a lot lighter and more refined. You can pretty much add whatever you feel like and as long as you've got a solid foundation as a result of a few compulsory spices you can tweak it to suit your tastes. The curry I made last night was a variation of a Thai red curry. I didn't want to use coconut milk (it has one of the highest fat contents per 100g around!) so I just used skim milk. It was a complete experiment but it worked perfectly. Again, this is one of those recipes where the longer you leave it the better. Make sure you make more than you need and take it to work the next day. The flavours will be so good you might just want to go sit in the corner and shed a tear.

Stuff you'll need to make four portions:

• 500g skinless chicken thighs (The flavour is way better than breast, but use them if you have to)
• 3 Tablespoons of red curry paste (This is one thing that I don't mind buying pre-made. You can make your own but to be honest it is a bit of a hack)
• 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
• About 250 ml of skim milk
• A cup of water
• A handful or two of frozen peas
• A handful of baby spinach leaves
• Some chopped mushrooms
• Some fresh ginger
• Coriander to garnish
• Half an onion, peeled and finely chopped
• A tin of lentils, drained and washed

Chop the other half of the onion and mix it with one chopped tomato to make a salsa.

What to do:

1. Heat some oil in a deep dish and add the onion, mushrooms and sweet potatoes. Fry for two minutes. Add the curry paste and stir it in.

2. Add the chicken and fry until everything is coated and the chicken is browned. Pour in the milk and the water. You want everything to be just covered with liquid. Add some more water or milk to get this result and bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and leave to simmer for about half an hour, stirring every now and then. If you can, cook for longer at the lowest heat possible. It is done when the sweet potatoes are soft but not falling apart.

3. When you are ready to serve, add the frozen peas and the spinach to the dish and cook for 1 minute.

4. To serve, place lentils in a bowl and pour sauce on top. Add some of the salsa and garnish with some coriander.

This was a huge hit with the princess and with all the nutritional value, it was quickly added to our "favourites" list. I'm sure you will do the same.

Cheers,

Jamie Who