Lemon Chicken Curry

Here in Spain there are lots of beautiful lemon trees; my aunt grows some huge juicy fruits. It is always a case of “What can we make with them?” I made this curry and slow-cooked it so you can eat the lemons within it.

It is a hot curry and very zingy, not for the faint-hearted, but is very tasty and pretty easy to cook. (Since you cook the lemons with the rind on, make sure you have un-waxed lemons, so you can eat the whole thing. You can wash the wax off the lemons but most supermarkets stock un-waxed these days).

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. soft brown sugar

2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 whole small chicken, chopped into chunks (you can get your butcher to do this for you)

1 tbsp. oil, I used sunflower

1 onion, diced

½ red pepper, diced

2 cloves of garlic, grated

2” chunk of ginger, grated

½ a piece of fresh turmeric, grated (or 1 tsp ground)

2 red chillies, left whole

2 tbsp. coriander powder

1 tbsp. cumin powder

1 cinnamon stick

3 green cardamom pods, bashed

2 or 3 un-waxed lemons, sliced

400ml tinned tomatoes, chopped

2 tsp sea salt

Method:

Sprinkle the sugar over the tomato wedges. Set aside.

You may wish to remove the skin from the chicken as it does tend to make the dish very oily. I chose to leave it on as it adds to the flavour, but scooped out some of the excess fat later. Heat the oil, and brown the chicken in batches. Set aside.

Add the onions to the pan and cook on a medium heat until soft. Then add the red pepper, garlic, ginger, turmeric and chillies. Cook for 2 minutes then add the coriander, cumin, cinnamon and cardamom. Cook for a further 2 minutes.

Add the sliced lemons. Stir and coat in the spices, then add the tin of tomatoes. Mix well, then add the chicken. If the juice doesn’t cover the chicken add a little water. Season with the sea salt and let it simmer for 20 minutes.

Pour in the fresh tomatoes and the sugar, scraping all of the juices from the plate. Stir and leave to simmer for another 30-40 minutes or until the chicken is tender. I like to cook this until it falls from the bones. Serve with rice.

Enjoy

Love Lulu xx

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