Chicken Korma Curry and…Mr Competitive Moves House

Do you remember my friend, Mr Competitive?  The one who was running the swimming club and rang me on the eve of a very important ‘meet’ to ask if I could ‘assist’ him by swimming in one of the races?  And being the kind and generous soul that I am (naive would be more to the point), I agreed only to end up being ordered to race in nine events including four relays?  Well I certainly remember it.

All packaged and ready to go to the moving victims.

All packaged and ready to go to the moving victims.

And then there was the dinner party that Mr Competitive invited us to and when I arrived minus my camera he accused me of assuming the meal they had prepared wasn’t good enough for me to blog about.  So I had to whip out my i-phone and take happy snaps all night and then publish a glowing post.

Simmering away on the stove

Simmering away on the stove

Well earlier this week Mr Competitive and his wife and their daughter and their twins moved house.  And they weren’t moving far; just a few streets really but still, no matter the distance, moving is not only unpleasant, it’s also exhausting.  And I saw Mr Competitive’s wife a few days ago and she was telling me that the kitchen in their new home is more than 60 years old and has been left in a filthy state.  They’re ripping it out in one week’s time but in the meantime, they do have to eat.

I gave the spinach to Mr Competitive in this bag as I didn't want to put it into the curry and then have it re-heated - not good!  Much better if it's added at the last minute.

I gave the spinach to Mr Competitive in this bag as I didn’t want to put it into the curry and then have it re-heated – not good! Much better if it’s added at the last minute.

I made them a meal and beetled it over to their new abode.  When I arrived, so did the truck doing the second load.  It was 6.30pm so I knew they had a long night ahead.  I just left the meal at their front door and retreated.  I didn’t want to hold them up or get in their way so I bid a hasty retreat.

I gave them the rice and pappadams and hoped their kitchen would be well enough set up to prepare these accompaniments

I gave them rice and pappadams and hoped their kitchen would be well enough set up to prepare these accompaniments – I might have been overly ambitious in my thinking!

Now in this family of five there is one coeliac and there’s also one with a nut allergy and there’s also one who doesn’t like a lot of heat so taking all of that on board I made a mild curry to be served with rice and pappadams.  Pappadams are gluten-free!  I would have liked to have baked them a dessert but I ran out of day.  I think I made up for it with a few goodies purchased from the local store. Chicken Korma Curry Serves:  4 Degree of Difficulty:  2/5 Cost:  This is an averagely priced family meal.

  • 390g (1 1/2 cups) Greek-style natural yoghurt
  • 140g (1/2 cup) Korma Curry Paste (I used Pataks)
  • 8 large chicken thigh cutlets, excess fat trimmed
  • 1 tbs vegetable oil
  • 2 brown onions, halved, thinly sliced
  • 2 large ripe tomatoes, coarsely chopped
  • 100g baby spinach leaves
  • 1/2 cup fresh coriander leaves
  • Steamed rice, to serve
  • Pappadums, to serve

Combine the yoghurt and curry paste in a large glass or ceramic bowl.  Add the chicken and turn to coat.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Place in the fridge for 30 minutes to marinate. Heat the oil in a large casserole dish over medium-high heat.  Add the onion and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes or until golden. Add the chicken and stir to combine.  Reduce heat to low.  Simmer, covered, turning chicken occasionally, for 30 minutes without letting the sauce boil – it will curdle.  Stir in the tomato.  Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes or until chicken is tender and sauce thickens. Add the spinach.  Cook, stirring for 1-2 minutes or until just wilted. Place the chicken curry in a large serving bowl.  Top with coriander leaves.  Serve with steamed rice and pappadums. This recipe is from Taste.

I didn't have time to make dessert so I bought some strawberries and some chocolate coated fruit and nuts - not a bad substitute!

I didn’t have time to make dessert so I bought some strawberries and some chocolate coated fruit and nuts – not a bad substitute!

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Comments

  1. You are so nice to have done all this for them when they drive you a little crazy lol! I’ll be going to you for some good eats next time i move. 😛

  2. How sweet of you to take a meal to the family. But I think you retreated quickly so you didn’t have to help with the move in. 🙂 I would have too.

  3. That us so very generous of you Charlie. We usually just order in on move days, but a home made curry would be far preferable.

  4. You’re pretty great.

  5. What a fabulous friend you are Charlie!
    Have a beautiful weekend.
    🙂 Mandy xo

  6. What a nice meal to have delivered while you’re going through a move. And the dessert … chocolate and fresh strawberries. Yummy. 🙂

  7. Charlie, you’re a very good friend! I hope Mr Competitive didn’t score your meal! (Not that it would have been a problem if he did, as I’m sure it was amazing! :))

  8. That’s such a lovely thing to do! I’ve a friend who just had a baby and may just do something similar.

  9. You are such a wonderful friend 😀

    Cheers
    CCU

  10. I wish you were close enough in geography to be my real friend! What a nice thing to do. And what a simple, but lovely recipe for a favorite Indian dish.

  11. You are too nice, Charlie! Looks like a great dish.

  12. You’re such a good friend Charlie. Cooking dinner is the last thing you feel like doing after moving. I asked mum to make us dinner that night that we could just re-heat. So so thankful for it when we sat down to eat.

  13. You’re such a good friend! And I’d definitely be happy with those gorgeous strawberries and the chocolate fruits/nuts for my dessert 🙂

  14. G’day and wow Charlie, you are oh so very nice, true!
    I hope your Mr. Competitive and his wife, their daughter and twins appreciated what you did do!
    Cheers! Joanne

  15. You are an ongoing example to all of us! I am sure they appreciated this hugely, and those strawberries and chocolate f&n would have been perfect for fuelling late night moving / unpacking. Much easier than a proper dessert – and after your gorgeous meal, I’m sure they’d have had no room for one anyway!

  16. You sweetie Charlie! I bet they were truly grateful. Moving is such a big job, whether it’s states, suburbs or streets away.
    When we last moved my sister prepared a dish that was to simmer away in the oven all day while we rushed around, so kind. The only problem was that we didn’t realise the new oven had to have two dials adjusted to turn on- we didn’t eat until about midnight!

  17. Aren’t you nice, especially after making you swim that much. If it had been just him, you could give sent over a peanut butter sandwich but you were very kind to the rest of the family. 🙂 This looks like a delicious curry.

  18. How nice of you Charlie! What was the verdict? Did they love it? It looks absolutely scrumptious! 😀

  19. You are a very good friend to them. Moving is right at the top of the list as one of life’s most stressful events. Having supportive friends around can make all the difference. So can alcohol (in my experience). 😉

  20. What a great friend and neighbor you are, Charlie! Who would expect a gourmet feast for dinner when having just moved.. what a treat! That dessert would be just perfect in my mind as well! xx

  21. What a big-hearted act of kindness that way.

  22. I mean, what a big-hearted act of kindness that was.

  23. thanks for sharing and can’t wait to try this

  24. Wow, you’re a good friend.

  25. I certainly do remember your Mr. Competitive stories! And hope to have many more to enjoy in the future (although I realize that’s hard on you!). So nice of you to help them out with dinner. But, their house wasn’t worth pictures so you could put them on your blog? 😀

  26. Indeed you are a kind soul with a beautiful heart 🙂
    Chicken Korma is a very common dish in our house but never tried it with spinach! Sounds interesting.
    Enjoyed your story-telling, like I always do 🙂
    Red, hot Korma pictures turned me on, dang! Meaning, I’ll have to make them for dinner tonight!

  27. Mr. Competitive is very lucky to have you as a friend!!

  28. How sweet of you! Looks like a lovely meal.

  29. You’re awesome Charlie! 🙂 And yes, strawberries and chocolate make a perfect dessert xx

  30. What a kind thing to do – no one likes to cook on moving day, but everyone loves a home cooked meal. I have no doubt the family enjoyed this meal. I’m all about curry these days, and this one looks delicious. I hope that all is well. Have a great week Charlie!

  31. I’m jus catching up on my emails after a hectic couple of weeks – I would love it if someone had left me a chicken korma on the doorstep this week!!!

  32. You’ve got a heart of gold 🙂 You’re so sweet and kind to actually make something for Mr competitive even though he wasn’t exactly that nice to you and I know how much effort and time it takes to move into a new place and it’s worse when you need to rip the whole kitchen out!

  33. That’s hilarious that someone thinks you’re making a bad meal because you didn’t bring your camera. 🙂 How wrong was that! What a great looking curry!

  34. You are very generous and kind person, Charlie! And I had to laugh when Mr Competitive said you didn’t bring the camera because you brought a bad food! She was too busy making food so that she forgot about camera. She wasn’t thinking about blogging at all. 😉

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