Easy chicken jalfrezi

EASY CHICKEN JALFREZI

I love making curry at home, it’s a great way to get in lots of portions of veggies and I never tire of it if there are leftovers! The only thing that I find with a lot of the curry recipes out there is that there are a lot of steps, making pastes, and more often than not a lot of oil. I still think that you can make a really delicious curry at home which doesn’t need to involve a lot of faffing, and really cuts out that oil to keep it light and healthy.

Chicken jalfrezi is one of those classics that everyone has heard of, and it’s popular for a reason, a tasty tomato based sauce with peppers, onions and a good level of heat, it has great flavour and is adaptable to serve with lamb chicken, or even vegetarian with some chickpeas. This is also lovely with the little coldwater prawns that you can get frozen- just make sure you thoroughly defrost them first, and then make the sauce up, and add them 5 minutes before the end of cooking to heat through thoroughly

Chicken jalfrezi is one of my favourite curries to cook if I have leftover roast chicken to use up, just make up the sauce and then add in whatever chicken you have leftover- if it’s looking a bit scant you can always add in an extra pepper or some chickpeas to bulk it up.

Pin

I made the jalfrezi in the picture using the leftovers of a roast chicken, if you are doing this, then just add the meat in once your sauce is done. You can also use chicken breasts or chicken thighs for this- if you would like to slow cook it then I suggest that thighs would be best (I always buy thigh fillets to save dealing with the bones). I have specified a red and a green pepper in this recipe, but if you have other colours they will be great too!

I added a green chilli with all the seeds as I like it hot, but remember that chillies can really vary in heat, and if you don’t like it too spicy, then you are better to err on the side of caution and add more chilli at the end if you think it needs it! The thinner green chillies tend to be much more spicy that the thicker ones that you tend to get in the supermarkets. I usually try a tiny bit of the chilli I’m using just to see if it’s knock-your-socks off hot, or so mild that you might want to add another one!

I usually serve this simply with some basmati rice, but if you fancy something slightly more impressive then why not try my Spinach and carrot pilau rice recipe. If you’d like another easy curry to cook alongside this, then this Easy chana masala (chickpea curry) is perfect! This is also lovely with my Homemade mango chutney. 

If you have leftovers of this, it freezes well, and keeps for about 5 days in the fridge.