A speedy supper: chicken curry in a hurry.

Hmmm..It's not that it cooks quickly; more that you'll have it prepared in five minutes and it can then sit happily on the hob for forty minutes or so. That tends to be how I define a quick dinner -- at least sometimes. So...

Tonight, I have taken 8 chicken thighs. I had Halal meat and the meat came already skinned. Now, just slice a big onion into rings and then slice the rings in two. Sweat them in a film of hot oil in a big pan. Then, add a tablespoon of ground cumin, a fat pinch of red chilli flakes, a dessertspoon of ground turmeric, a tablespoon of ground coriander and a large pinch of asafoetida. I guess you are less likely to have this, so you could miss it out, but it does add a deep savoury note to what you are cooking.

Right, continue to sweat the onion with the spices and then add the chicken to the pan. Stir it around well -- the vital thing being that you keep the heat quite low, as spices can turn bitter if they catch. Now add four potatoes, peeled (or not, if you're really lazy) and chopped into pieces (imagine a medium-sized potato cut into four) and --this is one of my most useful store cupboard ingredients-- 8 chunks of frozen spinach, either leaf or chopped. Tonight I used frozen chopped spinach and must say that it melded well with the sauce.

Stir the lot around for a minute, add a cup of water and bring it all to a high heat. Now stir again and simmer very gently for forty minutes or so. You will most likely have to add more water during this time. Check for seasoning and serve with basmati rice.

A Top Tip

Now, I am devoted to Patak's pickles, particularly their hot mango one. Just sometimes, I like to add a good tablespoon of it to a dish -- such as a meat biryani. It worked well with this chicken dish, too, adding an appealing piquancy. You could give it a go, but move slowly as you don't want to overpower the flavours already in the dish. Add it towards the end of cooking and the mango pieces in the pickle will retain a bit of  bite. This is not, by the way, one of the syrupy things it is supposed we like. It is a proper substantial pickle, with discrete chunks that will also do you proud in a cheese sandwich. Or, in fact, under the cheese on cheese or toast. I hope Meena Patak is reading this, actually......

Now put your feet up! See opposite! The picture on the right is courtesy of Subhodev at Flickr. It's part of a series he has on old Calcutta (oops Kolkata) and I adore these pictures. The picture before that is of some whole spices from my cupboard: pretty aren't they?