Neven Maguire's new ways with curry

It is a lot easier to make your own curry from scratch than you might think. If you give this a try I guarantee you will go back to it again and again and adjust it to your taste. This recipe is loosely based on one I came across on a wonderful trip to Sri Lanka to the southeast of southern India. A great place to buy your spices is Green Saffron in Cork. You will find them on the internet. And I saw them on the shelves in Dunnes recently. Try this recipe. You can’t beat making it yourself. The second recipe is for when you don’t have the time or inclination to work from scratch. Rice has been an important staple food in Sri Lanka for centuries and they like to serve it with plenty of fragrance and with a nice hint of coconut. This coconut cream is a little richer and heavier than coconut milk. This is also nice with brown rice but give it longer to cook.

Sri Lankan chicken curry

Serves four to six

2 tbsp Donegal rapeseed oil, plus a little extra

2 medium onions, finely sliced

2.5cm (1in) piece fresh root ginger,

peeled and finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

2 green chillies, quartered lengthways

with seeds removed

1 cinnamon stick, broken in half

4 whole cardamom pods

3 whole cloves

2 tbsp curry powder (use mild, medium

or hot, depending on how hot you like it)

1 tbsp garam masala

4 skinless boneless chicken breasts or

8 skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-size pieces

2tbsp tamarind puree (or if unavailable use 2 tbsp lime juice mixed with 1 tsp soft brown sugar)

200ml (7floz) coconut cream

100ml (3½floz) chicken stock

4 spring onions, very finely sliced

salt and freshly ground black pepper

fragrant yellow rice with cashew nuts, to serve (optional)

1 Heat oil in a large pan over a medium heat and add the onions, ginger, garlic and chillies. Once they start to colour, add the cinnamon, cardamom pods, cloves, garam marsala and curry powder and fry for another minute, stirring.

2 Increase the heat and add the chicken, then season with salt and pepper and an extra drizzle of oil if you think it needs it. Stir-fry for two to three minutes until golden brown. Stir in the coconut cream, stock and tamarind puree or lime juice mixture, then bring to a gentle simmer and cook for another eight to 10 minutes, until the chicken is completely tender and the sauce has slightly reduced and thickened. Scatter over the spring onions and serve on warmed plates with the fragrant yellow rice with cashew nuts.

Fragrant yellow rice with cashew nuts & peas

Serves four to six

100g (4oz) cashew nuts

knob of butter

1 small onion, very finely chopped

1 tsp curry powder

1 tsp ground turmeric

350g (12oz) basmati rice, well rinsed

pinch of salt

50ml (2floz) coconut cream

75g (3oz) frozen peas

1 Heat a non-stick frying pan and dry-fry the cashew nuts for four to five minutes, until golden, tossing regularly to ensure that they cook evenly.

2 Heat the butter in a medium-size pan and sauté the onion for two to three minutes, until softened. Stir in the curry powder and turmeric and cook for one minute, stirring.

3 Add the rice to the onion mixture with a good pinch of salt and pour in the coconut cream with enough freshly boiled water so that it comes about 2cm (½in) above the top of the rice – 500ml (18floz) of liquid in total is about right. Cover with a lid and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to really low and simmer gently for eight minutes.

4 Remove the rice from the heat, tip in the peas and cashew nuts, then set aside to continue to steam for another five minutes. Serve hot.