We can always tell when Autumn is well & truly on it’s way. The nights are drawing in, the leaves are beginning to turn into an array of vivid rouge & rust coloured hues, the crisp sunny mornings have arrived & the students are back at Uni. I have fond memories of University, although I left with a Husband instead of a degree (totally unexpected but pretty awesome!). As a mature student & single Mum in those days, I had a few struggles & one of them was making my food budget stretch. My son was only five at the time & we were renting a tiny “two up, two down” house in an old part of town, without many luxuries. I’m not talking warm Prosecco here – I had lost my home, ex-husband, job & finally my car, all within seven days & ended up sleeping on a kind person’s spare room floor.

So, I picked myself up & dusted myself down, found somewhere to rent, decided to enrol at Uni & get my life back on track (sort of!). The house was basic, but home: I slept fully clothed on an inflatable bed that would deflate during the night, there was no heating (the only gas fire was condemned) & we didn’t have a fridge, until my parents bought me one for my birthday (we kept milk cold in the sink). But it was paradise compared to how it could have been & we made the best of it. One of my dearest friends gave me a huge microwave & I managed to acquire an oven, so at least I could cook! I don’t want pity or anything (others have gone through much worse) & I’m not even sure I should be sharing such a personal experience, but my love for cooking became more important during this time, making me very resourceful & creative, giving me the opportunity to develop some of my best recipes.

It was at this little rented house that I met my fabulous neighbours, a lovely young couple who had the most beautiful baby girl, Aisha. Her Mum & I would chat about recipes, food & family. This curry was the result of those afternoon chats & is named in honour of Aisha & her Mum. It’s a firm favourite with my guys & I have shared it with several friends over the years too. It is inexpensive, easy to make & very flavoursome, plus it makes great spicy wraps the next day (if there are any leftovers!). Hands washed & aprons on!

What you need:

4 Chicken Legs or 8 Thighs (skin on & bone in) or 2 Chicken Breasts, cut into thin strips

1 large Red Onion, sliced thinly

2 Peppers, de-seeded & thinly sliced

1 tin Chopped Tomatoes (save the tin to measure water in)

1 chunk of Fresh Ginger (about 2 inches should do)

4 cloves Garlic

Quarter teaspoon of Cayenne

2 teaspoons each of Cumin, Turmeric & Coriander (I prefer leaf, but you can use ground here)

2 tablespoons of Vegetable or Olive Oil (I use whatever’s in the pantry at the time)

What to do:

Pre-heat the oven to 180*C if you’re cooking this with chicken thighs or legs, as you’re going to finish it in the oven.

Prepare the spices & mix together in a small cup, ready for adding later. Set aside.

Peel & grate the ginger, chop the garlic & slice the onion.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan or skillet. If you are using chicken legs/thighs, you need to seal the meat first, so fry for a couple of minutes on either side until the skin is browned & the flesh is opaque underneath. Set aside in a large casserole dish with a lid on.

Add the spices (be careful you don’t breathe it in though – stand back when you do this) & stir well. If it looks a bit dry, add a little more oil to loosen it up.

If using chicken breast, add this now & stir fry until opaque on all sides, mixing well with everything in the pan.

Add the peppers & stir fry everything for a couple of minutes to completely combine with the chicken & all the spices.

Add the chopped tomatoes & half a tin of cold water. Mix well & cook for a couple of minutes, until it is bubbling away nicely (avoid splashes though – turmeric stains worktops & this sauce is hotter than the surface of the sun!).

If you’re cooking chicken legs or thighs, you need to transfer the sauce to the casserole dish, pouring all over the chicken & ensuring they are completely covered in the sauce. Put the lid on & bake in the oven – chicken legs should need about 30 minutes, until the meat is tender & falling off the bone. To test if they are cooked through, insert a skewer into the thickest part & if the juices run clear, it’s cooked. If not, pop it back for another 10 minutes.

If you’re using chicken breast strips, take a piece out & cut it in half to check it’s cooked through (it should be white & opaque). That’s it, your curry is done! Cover with foil or a baking tray.

While the curry is resting or in the oven, cook some rice as per the instructions on the packet (maybe pop a couple of cardamom pods in the water) & make some flatbreads – I’ve been making some from a recipe my Mum gave me recently from a magazine. They take five minutes from start to finish, so you’ve got plenty of time to make them!

What you need:

8oz Self-Raising Flour (or 8oz Plain with 4 teaspoons of Baking Powder), plus a bit extra for rolling out

100ml cold Water

1 tablespoon Olive or Vegetable Oil, plus a little more for frying

2 cloves Garlic, finely chopped (optional)

What to do:

Clean out the skillet you just used – you’re going to fry these breads in it.

In a bowl or food processor, mix all the ingredients together to form a soft dough. Split into four equal sized balls & dust with a little flour.

Heat the skillet/frying pan & add a sprinkling of oil (you only need a little bit) – it needs to be quite hot.

Take each dough ball & roll it out in a little flour until very thin, shaping it into an oval shape as you do (mine are usually random shapes though, so it doesn’t really matter if you don’t).

Place two in the pan & cook for about 2-3 minutes each side, turning carefully so they don’t break up.

Once cooked, transfer to a cooling rack or chopping board until ready to serve. If you want them to stay soft, wrap individually in a bit of foil until you’re ready to serve. That way, you can chuck them back in the oven to warm up while you’re dishing up the curry & rice.

Serve straight from the casserole dish or skillet, with a dollop of cool Greek yoghurt mixed with a few finely chopped fresh mint leaves, along with the garlic flatbreads. The fresh ginger gives the curry plenty of kick, so I will warn you to have a glass of ice cold beer nearby (or milk).

Any leftovers make great lunch wraps the next day too – chop some salad up, add a little curry & a splodge of the yoghurt, then fold. No waste, plus you made your own bread in minutes to mop up that sauce!

Whether you’re studying hard or hardly studying, I hope you like Aisha’s Kick-Ass Curry as much as we do. Share with friends & add a little spice to your life! Stay hungry 😉 A x