Chicken Mulligatawny Soup

I came up with this as a variation on a curry recipe. I think it’s worked pretty well.

Ingredients:

• 1 tsp groundnut oil (or vegetable oil)
• 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
• 2cm piece of ginger, finely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed/finely chopped/whatever
• 4 small carrots, halfed lengthwise and finely sliced
• 1 tsp garam masala
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp dried coriander leaves
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 2 chillies (or just the one if you’re not wanting it too hot) finely sliced
• 75g Greek yoghurt
• 2 large (bonless and skinless) chicken thighs (approx 250g), chopped into small 2cm-ish chunks
• 800ml chicken stock
• 50g (uncooked) basmati rice
• cornflour to thicken (optional)

Start by heating the oil in a medium-large pan, and sweat off the onions for about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, ginger, carrot and half of the chilli, and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Transfer about 2/3-3/4 of the mixture to a small blender, and with a bit of water added, blend until you get a very smooth paste. Return the paste back to the pan, add all of the spices, and cook for a couple more minutes. Stir in the yoghurt (a small amount at a time, so that it doesn’t split), followed by the chicken and cook slowly until not-quite bubbling, before adding the rice and stock. Cook for ten minutes, or so, until the rice and chicken is cooked. If the sauce is too thin, add a couple of teaspoons of cornflour let down with a small amount of warm water, and stir into the soup.

Serves 4, and if you’re counting, each serving weighs in at a fairly lean 225 calories