Wednesday 29 January is Chinese New Year! Ditch the delivery service and celebrate in style with this treatsome Chinese takeaway classic.
Using cold roast chicken makes a big difference to the overall texture of this curry; you can either put leftovers to good use, or roast a small chicken the day before/morning of your fakeaway feast. To make a vegetarian version, use vegetable stock in the curry sauce and swap the chicken for pan-fried tofu or Quorn chunks.
Gong hei fat choy!
Ingredients (serves 4)
For the Curry Sauce:
- 2 onions, peeled and sliced
- 4-5 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
- 2-3 carrots, sliced
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tbsp medium curry powder
- 500ml chicken stock
- 1 tbsp clear honey
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 3 star anise
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 heaped tsp garam masala
To complete the curry:
- Around 500g cold roast chicken, skin removed, chopped into bite-sized chunks
- 1 onion, peeled and diced
- 1 generous handful chestnut mushrooms, sliced
- 150g frozen peas
To serve: steamed or egg-fried rice
Method
- Heat a little vegetable oil in a large frying pan and sauté the onions and sliced carrots for around 8 minutes until soft but not brown, adding the garlic for the last 1-2 minutes.
- Add the flour and curry powder to the pan and continue to cook, stirring continuously, for 1-2 minutes before slowly adding the stock followed by the honey, soy sauce, star anise and bay leaves. Stir well, bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer (stirring occasionally) for 10-15 minutes, adding the garam masala for the last couple of minutes. Take the sauce off the heat, strain through a sieve and set the sauce to one side.
- Fry the onion and mushrooms in a little vegetable oil and, when the vegetables are soft, add the frozen peas, cooked chopped chicken and strained curry sauce to the pan. Season well, stir to combine and gently simmer until completely heated through.
- Serve in warm bowls on top of mounds of steamed or egg-fried rice.
