This is a completely inauthentic, deconstructed, absolutely delicious curry. You can use any vegetables you want and it always tastes simply gorgeous. You can omit the chicken and go full-on vegetarian. I know the recipe will sound fiddly but a closer reading will show that it really isn't. There are a lot of bonuses to cooking the meat and vegetables separately and combining them at the end.
I like cauliflower in curry but if it cooks directly in the sauce the brassica notes take over the whole dish, which is why I roast the vegetables separately. This also adds substance to the end result, which is a plus because curry often has an element of textural "little Johnny one note". I like to poach the chicken thighs in the sauce because this method makes the meat silky and tender.
There are two ways to finish this dish. I had planned on making everything bite sized, pouring the finished curry into a large oven safe baking dish, rolling out the naan in one piece large enough to cover the whole dish, crimping the edges and placing the whole thing under the grill for 4 to 5 minutes. I imagined an end result that would be chicken pot pie's exotic cousin from abroad. That would have been visually stunning but would have served 6 people. Since it was just L. and me for dinner, and I committed to leftovers, I left the chicken thighs and the carrots whole, and topped each each serving with a jaunty lid of naan (also cheerfully inauthentic due to the baking powder). This method fed 2 for dinner, 2 for lunch and with an additional amount of chicken-less vegetables and sauce to be blitzed into a delicious lunch soup for one.
Either way, everything will come together beautifully in a silky, gloriously saffron colored sauce with hints of heat and fragrant spices.
4 skinless boneless chicken thighs
1 bunch carrots
1 bunch spinach, washed, stems discarded and leaves roughly chopped
1/2 cauliflower, broken into florets
1 can of garbanzo beans, drained, rinsed and drained again
1 jalapeno pepper, pricked here and there with a fork
1 red onion, peeled and cut in 8
1 shallot, peeled, halved and cut into thin half moons
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 thumb sized knob of ginger
3 Tbsps olive oil
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/3 cup full fat coconut milk
1/2 cup cream
1 Tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp turmeric
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 + 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 + 1/2 tsp ground coriander
2 cloves
Preheat the oven to 375.
Place the carrots, onion pieces and cauliflower florets on a foil lined baking tray. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt and a teaspoon each of the cumin and coriander. Bake for 40 minutes, turning at the half way mark. At 40 minutes, remove from the oven and set aside still on the baking tray.
As soon as the vegetables are in the oven, place a deep saucepan on the stove top and turn the heat to medium,. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil as well as the ginger, shallot, garlic, the curry powder, turmeric, the bay leaves, the cinnamon, remaining ground cumin and coriander and the two cloves. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring constantly, until the spices are fragrant.
Add the tomato paste and cook for a minute or so stirring constantly; this helps get rid of any tinny taste.
Add the chicken pieces and the jalapeño, turn so that all sides are coated in the spice mix. Add just enough water to cover the chicken. Salt generously. Cover and cook over medium heat for 25 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside, still covered, while the vegetables finish roasting.
If making the naan, the time while the chicken is cooking and the vegetables are roasting would be ideal for making the naan dough, if you plan on including this in your meal. If not, serve the curry over rice.
When the vegetables are done, remove the chicken pieces to a plate. Turn the heat back to medium. Allow the sauce to bubble away until reduced by about a third and it is slightly thickened.
The time while the sauce is reducing is ideal to quarter the dough and press each portion out into a round. Place under the broiler for 2 minutes on each side.
Add the coconut milk to the sauce, as well as the cream. Taste and adjust for salt if needed. If the heat in the sauce is to your liking, remove the jalapeño. If you want more heat then leave it in and press down on it with a spoon to release the seeds into the sauce. Everything depends on the strength of your curry powder, of your jalapeño, and your tolerance for heat.
Add the chicken pieces back into the sauce along with the cauliflower, the carrots and the onion pieces. Baste gently to combine. Add the garbanzo beans and the chopped spinach and cook for about 5 minutes more, until the chicken and roasted vegetables are heated through, the spinach is cooked and the sauce has slightly thickened.
Remove the ginger and the jalapeño, if you have not already done so. Also remove the bay leave sand cloves if you can find them.
Place some of each vegetable and a chicken thigh in each of 4 soup dishes, drizzle generously with sauce. Top with a piece of naan. Or present your proper pot pie as described above.
This dish is great as is but I like to gild the lily and serve it with condiments on the side - Major Grey's chutney, chopped banana, flaked unsweetened coconut, crushed honey roasted peanuts or almonds, coriander leaves, finely chopped preserved lemon and chopped carrot greens tossed in a bit of cider vinegar and let each guest add their own twist to the dish.
