Slow-cooked Chicken Casserole

Ingredients:

2 Mishra’s Curry Cubes

500-600g chicken drumsticks

8 shallots or very small brown onions, peeled and cut in half

10 chat potatoes, cleaned but not peeled

2 tbsp oil

I large onion, finely chopped

2 tsp garlic and ginger paste

2 ripe tomatoes, finely chopped

1 cup of water

Juice of half a lemon, optional

Chopped coriander leaves for garnish, optional

Serves 3 to 4

Step one

Pour 1 tbsp oil into a large shallow non-stick pan and, when the oil is hot, place the onions cut-side down in the pan and cook until they are browned. Turn them over and allow the other side to cook briefly then carefully transfer them to a slow cooker, cut-side up. Fry the chicken drumsticks in the same pan over a high heat to sear and brown the surfaces, before placing them on top of the onion halves in the slow cooker. Add the chat potatoes to the cooker.

Step two

Heat the remaining 1 tbsp oil in the same pan and fry the onion, garlic and ginger for about 10 minutes or until the onion has softened and browned. Add the Curry Cubes and stir to mix thoroughly, then add the tomatoes and water and stir well. Pour this mixture over the other ingredients in the slow cooker, and season with salt and pepper. Set the timer to 3 hours.

Step three

At the end of the cooking time, adjust the seasoning with extra salt and pepper if needed. Stir in the lemon juice and sprinkle over the chopped fresh coriander if using. Goes well with rice and Indian breads.

Note: If you don’t have a slow cooker, follow the same process using a casserole dish with a tightly fitting lid and cook in a pre-heated oven (150oC / 300oF). You will need to turn the drumsticks a couple of times during the cooking period of 2 to 3 hours to allow the chicken to fully soak up the curry sauce.