CURRIED CHICKEN SCHNITZEL BAKE

This is a great one-dish bake. It’s important to avoid piling the chicken in the dish, so make sure all the pieces can lay snug but flat, in a single layer with each touching the base. Serves two

INGREDIENTS

3 vine tomatoes

(or any fresh tomatoes, halve large ones)

100g natural yogurt

(or any plain yogurt, or try coconut yogurt)

1 tbsp curry powder

(mild or hot, your choice; madras is great too)

1 tsp ground turmeric

(can be omitted)

¼ tsp dried chilli flakes

(or fresh thinly sliced chilli, or chilli powder)

1 tsp ground coriander

(or crushed coriander or fennel seeds)

1 tsp cumin seeds

(or ½ tsp ground cumin or caraway)

4 pieces of chicken, thighs and drumsticks (about 650g)

(essential)

65g breadcrumbs

(essential, but panko is fine)

15g coconut flakes

(lovely, but not essential)

1 tsp garam masala

(or any curry powder)

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C fan/Gas 7. Roughly chop the tomatoes and add them to a large mixing bowl. Add the yogurt, curry powder, turmeric, chilli flakes, coriander and cumin to the bowl, season well and mix together. Next, add the chicken and coat in the curried tomato yogurt. Transfer the chicken and all of its marinade to a baking dish, so the chicken pieces are snug, but not on top of one another. Bake for 50 minutes. Meanwhile, make the topping. Mix together the breadcrumbs, coconut flakes, garam masala and some seasoning. When the chicken has had its time, sprinkle the crumb mixture on top and return to the oven for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it sit for five minutes, then serve.

GOES WELL WITH

Just some greens (I like minty peas), or serve with some rice, popadoms and sliced cucumber.

LEFTOVERS

Reheats well; put foil on top to avoid the crumbed topping getting burnt. Or slice the chicken, reheat in a pan with extra chilli and serve with potato wedges.