Chicken Korma

I cannot even remember how many times i have made this dish. It gets better every time. I have been making tweaks to the recipe ever since i started making it when i came to university two years ago. I hope you guys enjoy it as much as i do.

Ingredients:
- 1 sachet of Patak's creamed-coconut
- 300ml Chicken stock
- 250g Creme Fraiche
- 100g flaked almonds
- 1tsp Ground cumin
- 1 tsp Garam masala
- 1 tsp Turmeric
- 1 tsp Ground coriander
- 1/2 - 1tsp Chili powder (You can leave this out if you prefer your korma not spicy at all)
- 1tsp Mustard seeds
- 4 Cardamon pods
- 1 Cinnamon stick
- 2 Chicken breasts (diced into 2cm chunks)
- 1 large onion (finely chopped)
- 3 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
- 2 tbsp Olive oil

- Dry-fry the flaked almonds in a frying pan over a high heat until golden brown, and leave to one side.

- Add the olive oil, cardamon pods, cinnamon stick and mustard seeds to a saucepan over a medium-high heat. When the mustard seeds begin to sizzle add the onion and cook for 5 minutes, until the onions are soft. Then add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes.

- Add the turmeric, garam masala, ground cumin, ground coriander and chili powder to the onions (it should form a thick paste - if it is too dry add a little more oil). Cook for 30 seconds and add the diced chicken. Cook for five minutes until the chicken is almost cooked through.

- Add the chicken stock, coconut cream, creme fraiche and flaked almonds. Season with salt and pepper. Then cover and turn to a medium-low heat. Leave for one hour, stirring occasionally.


Let me know what you think. Any improvements or comments are welcome.

Duck Breast with a Cranberry and Red Wine jus

Served with a finely grated potato dauphinoise.

Ingredients:

For the Jus:
- 100g Cranberry's
- 1 Orange (juice only)
- 75g Brown sugar
- 100ml red wine
- 1 tsp white wine vinegar

For the Potato Dauphinoise:
-2 large baking potato
-250ml double cream
-2 tbsp whole milk
-2 garlic cloves,
-100g Gruyère cheese, grated
- Salt and pepper for seasoning

For the duck:
- 1/2 Duck breast
- 1tbsp Olive oil

- Pre-heat the oven to 180C.

- Add the milk, cream and garlic to a saucepan and bring to the boil, add a generous amount of salt and pepper for seasoning. Slice the potato using a mandoline and cut into thin spaghetti shaped strips.

- Add the potato strips to a small greased ovenproof dish (so the potato is at least an inch tall) and add the cream and garlic mixture, making sure that the mixture completely covers the potato. Top with the grated cheese and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until slightly brown on top.

- Add the cranberry's, orange juice, red wine, white wine vinegar and brown sugar to a saucepan over a medium heat until combined, to make a sauce.

- For the duck, heat an ovenproof frying pan, add the olive oil and duck breast and sear the duck over a high heat until brown on all sides. Transfer to the oven and cook for 3-5 minutes until cooked to your liking.

To serve: Cut a square of the dauphinoise and place in the centre of the plate. Cut the duck into 4-5 slices depending how thick you like them. Place on top of the dauphinoise and drizzle with the cranberry jus.

Enjoy everyone!