This week’s Friday stir fry comes from Good Food magazine March 2014 p106. It’s a healthy makeover of chicken katsu, served with Thai sticky rice and salad.

For the chicken:

• 250ml buttermilk (most of a 284ml pot)
• chicken breasts
• 1 tsp curry powder
• salt & pepper
• 50g panko breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp self-raising flour
• rapeseed oil

Season the buttermilk and stir in the curry powder. Pat the chicken breasts dry then roll in the buttermilk, then pop in the fridge to chill, still in the buttermilk, for about an hour.

Toast the panko & flour in a dry frying pan.

After chilling remove the chicken breasts form the buttermilk and roll in the panko mix and fry, both sides, in a non-stick frying pan for 90 seconds on each side, using a tsp of rapeseed oil for each side.

Then cook in the oven on a wire rack for 15 minutes at 210c fan.

For the curry sauce:

• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 chilli, minced
• 2 tsp grated ginger
• 2 tsp garam masala
• 1/2 tsp turmeric
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp tomato purée
• 500ml hot chicken stock
• 1 carrot, chopped into small pieces
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp clear honey
• 2 tsp cornflour

Soften the onion, chilli, garlic & ginger. Stir in spices, then add stock. Add carrot, soy & honey, purée and simmer, adding cornflour to thicken. while you go to the shop for beer, then cook everything else! Then blend before serving.

Take the chicken out of the oven, cut into pieces and pour the sauce over. Serve with Thai sticky rice and salad.

Sounds simple but it took 3 hours, if you include the chicken being in the fridge for an hour. I’m sure you could get that down with practice, but definitely a weekend dish, not a weeknight one!

Having said that: it was worth the wait! Really tasty and the right level of creamy spice. Definitely one to do again!