Chinese Chicken/Veg Curry

Ingredients – Serves 4

For the curry sauce:

1 tbsp vegetable oil

large white onion cut into chunks

3 veggie stock cubes

1.5 pints boiling water

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1/2 tsp chinese 5 spice

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp mild chilli powder

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp turmeric

2 tsp mild curry powder

1 garlic clove, crushed

generous handful of frozen peas

3 tbsp cornflour, mixed with milk to make a paste

For the veggie dish:

1 large carrot peeled and sliced diagonally

broccoli & cauliflower florets

For the chicken dish:

2 tbsp bicarbonate of soda

1 tbsp vegetable oil

2 or 3 lean chicken breasts, chopped

Method

Tenderise the chicken pieces for 30 minutes using bicarbonate of soda, rinse well, pat dry and put to one side

Heat the vegetable oil in a large pan or wok and stir in the onion pieces, frying over a medium heat until just starting to turn brown

Dissolve the veggie stock cubes in the boiling water and pour over the onions

Add all of the spices, garlic and frozen peas to the pan, stirring gently until well mixed

Slowly stir in the cornflour paste until the desired thickness is reached

Put a pan of cold water on for the rice at this point, add a veggie stock cube if required

Lower the heat and allow the sauce to simmer gently for around 10 minutes

While the sauce is simmering, heat some more vegetable oil in a medium frying pan

Add the tenderised chicken to the frying pan and cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, turning often until the pieces are sealed on all sides

Divide the curry sauce between 2 saucepans

Add the chicken pieces into one pan

Add the carrot, broccoli and cauliflower to the other pan

Let both pans simmer for a further 10 minutes. If the sauce starts to get too thick, add boiling water as necessary to maintain the desired consistency