Chicken & Sweet Potato Curry Bowl

Ingredients

• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 thumb-sized piece ginger, grated
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tbsp tikka masala or medium curry paste
• 600 g chicken thigh fillets, cut into large chunks
• 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3cm chunks
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• salt and black pepper
• 1 x 400ml tin coconut milk
• 1 lime, juiced
• 100 g dried green or brown lentils, rinsed
• 600 g cooked rice, 15 g coriander and 4 tbsp mango chutney

Method

1. Press kitchen paper over the chicken until dry.
2. Heat the oil in a wide, lidded heavy pan over a high heat until it shimmers. Brown the chicken in two batches, 4–5 minutes a batch, until the edges catch deep gold. Crowd the pan and the meat boils in its own juices instead of building colour. Lift out and set aside.
3. Drop the heat to medium. Add the onion and cook for 6–8 minutes until soft, translucent and just starting to catch at the edges; those sticky bits on the base are flavour, leave them be.
4. Stir in the garlic, ginger and curry paste. Cook for 60–90 seconds, just until fragrant and the paste darkens a shade. This is also the moment the spices in the paste toast in the hot oil.
5. Tip in the sweet potato and rinsed lentils, stirring to coat every chunk in the rust-coloured paste. Cook for 2–3 minutes so the spice clings.
6. Pour in the coconut milk, chopped tomatoes and 200 ml Bring to a gentle simmer.
7. Return the chicken with any resting juices. Cover and cook over a medium-low heat for 20–25 minutes, stirring once or twice, until the sweet potato yields to the tip of a knife and the sauce has thickened to a glossy coat that clings to the back of a spoon. The thickest part needs to hold 75°C for 30 seconds.
8. Off the heat, stir in the lime juice; the acid lifts the coconut richness and pulls the spices forward.
9. Spoon the curry over steamed rice in warm bowls, scatter the fresh coriander generously over the top, and add a glossy spoonful of mango chutney alongside.