Chicken & tomato spiced curry

Caroline Marson: Food writer

This is a great recipe for using up any leftover chicken and any vegetables that you might have in the fridge. If you like a hot curry add more curry paste.

Ingredients: serves 4

3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion (chopped roughly)
2 garlic cloves (peeled and crushed)
1 tbsp tomato puree
400 g tomatoes (chopped)
1 tsp red wine vinegar
300 g vegetables (choose from a variety of leftover vegetables such as red peppers, cauliflower, beans and carrots. Chop these into small pieces)
450 g chicken (cooked and sliced)
pinch of salt
black pepper (freshly ground)

Method:

Heat the oil in a large frying pan, reduce the heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook over a medium heat until golden. Add the curry paste and cook for 1 minute to cook off the spices.
Add the tomato puree, chopped tomatoes, vinegar and 200ml water to the frying pan. Bring to the boil and simmer uncovered for about 5 minutes.
Add your chosen vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Stir in the chicken pieces and season with salt and pepper. Simmer gently for about few minutes or until the chicken is piping hot.

To serve:

Serve with jasmine rice, poppadoms, coriander sprigs and a tablespoon of madras curry paste.

Recipe tips:

It's best to serve rice when it has just been cooked. If that isn't possible, cool the rice as quickly as possible (ideally within one hour) and keep it in the fridge for no more than one day until reheating. Never leave cooked rice to cool on its own - always chill it quickly for example under running cold water. If cooked rice had been chilled or frozen ensure that it is thoroughly reheated and is piping hot throughout. Never keep rice chilled for longer than 1 day or frozen for longer than 1 month. Once cooked rice has been re-heated, throw away any leftovers. Never re-heat rice more than once.